Colorado among states with highest percentage growth of golf rounds played
By Gary Baines – 1/30/2025
Golf keeps going gangbusters in Colorado in the 2020s — like few people could have envisioned five years ago.
The amount of rounds played surged in the U.S. during the Covid-19 pandemic, but it isn’t stopping there — at least not in Colorado.
This week, Golf Datatech, with the help of the National Golf Foundation, released its “National Rounds Played Report” for the entirety of 2024, which showed that nationwide, the number of golf rounds jumped 2.2 percent last year compared to 2023.
But the increase in Colorado specifically made the nationwide figure pale in comparison. Specifically, Golf Datatech noted that golf rounds in the Centennial State surged 6.2 percent in 2024.
To put that figure into perspective, Golf Datatech’s report includes figures for 34 states or combination of states. Out of those 34, Colorado tied for the No. 5 position among the states/group of states with the biggest percentage gains in rounds played.
For the record, the top five on that list were:
1. Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and Utah combined: 10% increase in 2024
2. Ohio 7.2%
3. Michigan 6.7%
4. Illinois 6.3%
T5. Colorado 6.2%
T5. Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont combined 6.2%
As always, weather plays a significant role in the ebb and flow of the figures, but it’s certainly not the only reason they go up and down. And there’s no question that the demand for more rounds has jumped significantly in Colorado, regardless of weather.
To wit, over the last five years, the rounds played in the state have increased 23.7 percent, according to Golf Datatech. In other words, let’s say a Colorado course had 30,000 rounds played in 2019. If it has seen the average increase experienced in the Centennial State, the rounds would have jumped to around 37,100 last year.
Here are the year-to-year increases/decreases Colorado golf courses have experienced in rounds played over the last five years, according to Golf Datatech:
2020 — +19.9%
2021 — -2.1%
2022 — -4.1%
2023 — +3.5%
2024 — +6.2%
Nationally, Golf Datatech reported that rounds played at public-access course in 2024 were up 2.5 percent compared to a year earlier, while private rounds increased 0.9 percent, bringing the overall jump to 2.2 percent.
Earlier this month, the National Golf Foundation reported that green-grass golf participation has increased for seven straight years, with more than 28 million people now playing golf that way. The net increase of about 1.5 million golfers in 2024 marked the largest single-year jump since 2000. Since 2019, the number of traditional green-grass golfers has grown by 16 percent.
Also taking into account those who play off course with a full swing, real clubs and a real ball (at places like Topgolf or via a simulator), 47.2 million people in the U.S. participated in golf — a 38 percent gain over five years.
For the Golf Datatech National Rounds Played Report, see below.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com