There are almost 500 golf courses in and around the New York metro area, making it the most golf-rich MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) in the U.S., by a fairly wide margin. Not surprisingly, many of the biggest U.S. cities are also near the top of this list, from sunny South Florida to Palm Springs and the greater Los Angeles area in California.

The original greens created by Donald Ross at Pinehurst Resort's No. 2 course featured sand putting surfaces instead of grass. They were actually a mix of sand and clay, and remained that way until 1935. While many greens today are "sand-based," with tightly mown grass atop a porous subsurface, sand greens were once relatively commonplace in parts of the U.S. with little rainfall or easy access to irrigation. These smoothed putting surfaces were typically bare sand or oiled sand -- typically motor oil to keep weeds and insects away while binding the sand in windy conditions. Today, they're far less commonplace, ...

Midway through 2024, rounds of golf on a national level are trending slightly ahead (+2%) of 2023, a year which set a record for the most play at U.S. courses in a single year. The blue line in the accompanying graphic shows the cumulative rounds trajectory through June, with the most noticeable separation being the +15% lift over the average "pre-Covid" play levels.

More golf courses are under active construction in the U.S. than at any time in more than a decade. Development on the whole -- with courses in planning and under construction -- are at their highest levels since the downturn that followed the Great Recession. Florida leads the way with more than 20 courses in planning or under construction.

The price of golf has gone up as the game's post-pandemic popularity has surged. But this comes after a decade of limited pricing power, a stretch on the heels of the Great Recession during which pricing increases generally lagged behind inflation. The recent increases in average public green fees are better keeping pace with U.S. inflation, helping create a healthier landscape across the U.S. golf supply.