If it feels like new golf course development has increased, that's because there's been a definitive post-Covid uptick. Per the NGF Construction Report, there are currently more new golf courses under active construction than any other time in more than a decade. The number of projects (66 as of April 2023) was almost double the three-year pre-pandemic average. The below graphic also highlights new courses in  active planning, but not those that have been proposed, although that is a category in the Construction Report.

There are almost 16,000 golf courses at 14,000 facilities in the U.S., five times more in total than any other country in the world. Ten states have more than 500 golf courses, with three others exceeding 400 and seven having at least 300. The accompanying graphic shows the total facility and course supply for the Top 10 best-supplied golf states in the U.S.

The number of all-new golf course openings has been exceedingly low in recent years amid the ongoing correction in the U.S. market. There were 10.5 openings of 18-hole equivalent (18-HEQ) courses in 2022, a total that encompassed 15 facilities. Of these, three were in Texas, two in Florida and two in Nebraska. Five of the openings for 2022 were Par 3 courses, a proportion higher than the 4% national average.

The 105.5 course closures in 2022 (as measured in 18-hole equivalents, or 18-HEQ) was the fewest in the U.S. since 2005. That year was the last in which new course openings exceeded annual course closures. The following year, the housing bubble popped, precipitating the Great Recession. In the years that followed, there were a rash of golf course closures. In  recent years, the number of annual closures has declined significantly as the market -- on a macro level -- has moved closer to equilibrium when it comes to the number of golfers compared to golf course supply.

Since a record number of course closures in 2019, as measured in 18-hole equivalents (18-HEQ), the annual tally of permanent shutdowns has declined every year. It's an indication of a better supply/demand balance and, potentially, of the correction coming to an end. There were about 1o5 18-HEQ closures in 2022, the fewest since 2005. This resulted in a net decline of 86 18-HEQ when accounting for new openings and re-openings after renovations.