3-Minute Business Insights
Women and girls have outpaced their male counterparts and accounted for a greater share of growth when it comes to post-pandemic participation gains in recreational golf. The recent momentum has erased the declines seen in the female participation ranks following the Great Recession.
Female Participation & Engagement Report Now Available
See the highlights from the new member report
Women and girls have been major contributors to the recent participation surges within the recreational game, as the number of U.S. golfers continues to climb toward record territory.
Topics: Course Operations, Facility Management, Green-Grass Facility, Instruction, Media & Marketing, Off-course Facility, Specialized Services
Summary of Female Participation – 2026
On-Course Participation Trend by Gender
The Perception Revolution
Topics: Business Management, Events & Tourism, Facility Services, Media & Marketing, Specialized Services, Technology & Innovation
Can Short-Form Golf Transform Female Retention?
Women and girls have accounted for almost half of the sport's growth over the past decade and now represent one-third of all golf participants including on- and off-course players. But this remarkable surge comes with multiple challenges: getting more to make the jump to traditional golf and then keeping them coming back once they do.
Female Golfers Fuel Cultural Shift
Women and girls have quietly become the driving force behind golf's post-pandemic resurgence. What makes the growth particularly significant is its youthful energy. More than half of net participation gains among women have come from those under 30, and equally encouraging is the cultural shift that's taking hold.
Beginners, Juniors, Female, Young Adults, Seniors, and People of Color
Concise and comprehensive one-page summary reports on various participation-related topics among the U.S. golfer population.
June is Women's Golf Month and an appropriate time to note that some of the most significant golfer gains in recent years have been among female participants. A near record number of women and girls played golf on a course in 2023, the highest participation levels in the U.S. since 2006.
Female Participation & Engagement Report Now Available
See the highlights from NGF's new member report
The recent positive momentum in the world of female golf participation hasn't just been pandemic-fueled. The overall participant pool -- when factoring both on- and off-course forms of the game -- has risen 85% over the past decade, with nearly 15 million women and girls now playing golf in one of its increasingly various forms.
