How Many Golf Courses Are in California?
According to US Golf Course Registry's registry, California has 1015 golf facilities (1058 courses): 453 public, 80 municipal, 206 nine-hole and 695 eighteen-hole — the oldest established 1892.
| Metric | Count | Share of courses |
|---|---|---|
| Public | 453 | 43 % |
| Private | 319 | 30 % |
| Semi-private | 88 | 8 % |
| Resort | 93 | 9 % |
| Municipal | 80 | 8 % |
| 9-hole | 206 | 19 % |
| 18-hole | 695 | 66 % |
Course construction by decade
| Decade | Courses built |
|---|---|
| 1890s | 7 |
| 1900s | 5 |
| 1910s | 20 |
| 1920s | 111 |
| 1930s | 19 |
| 1940s | 16 |
| 1950s | 113 |
| 1960s | 212 |
| 1970s | 94 |
| 1980s | 98 |
| 1990s | 159 |
| 2000s | 105 |
| 2010s | 3 |
| 2020s | 5 |
FAQ
How many golf courses are in California?
California has 1015 golf facilities with 1058 courses in the registry: 453 public, 80 municipal, 206 nine-hole and 695 eighteen-hole.
Why does this differ from the National Golf Foundation's count?
Industry figures such as the National Golf Foundation's are built from membership and survey data and usually report facilities or 18-hole equivalents. This registry counts golf facilities mapped in OpenStreetMap and lists their courses separately (a 27-hole club is one facility, three nine-hole courses), so the two totals are not directly comparable — treat ours as a verifiable floor, not a competing estimate.
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