The United States Golf Association has released its 2025 Golf Scorecard, highlighting record participation and stable handicap averages among American golfers. With 3.68 million players maintaining handicaps, the report shows an 8.2 percent increase from the previous year. It also reveals regional insights and the growing popularity of shorter rounds.
The USGA's annual Golf Scorecard for 2025 offers a detailed look at golfer performance and participation trends, based on 82 million rounds posted under the World Handicap System—a new domestic record. This data comes from 3.68 million U.S. golfers who track their handicaps, marking an 8.2 percent rise from 2024 and a 46 percent surge since 2020, when the number stood at about 2.52 million amid the COVID-19 pandemic's influence on the sport's growth. The report underscores the sport's enduring challenge, as average handicaps remain steady: 14.0 for men and 28.8 for women, compared to 14.2 and 27.7 in 2020. Achieving scratch status— a handicap of 0 or better—remains rare, with only 2 percent of male golfers and 0.85 percent of female golfers reaching this level. Scratch golfers are unicorns, the report notes, emphasizing the game's difficulty. Regionally, Florida led in total rounds posted, thanks to its year-round weather and abundance of courses. However, when measuring golf enthusiasm per capita and available playing days, Maine topped the Northeast, followed by Florida in the Southeast, Wisconsin in the Midwest, Colorado in the Central region, and Arizona in the West. Arkansas golfers demonstrated the nation's strongest average performance for men at 10.6, while Mississippi led for women at 22.0. The data also highlights a shift toward accessibility, with half of women's scores from nine-hole rounds and a quarter of men's, reflecting the appeal of shorter formats for time-constrained players. Additionally, the system adjusted numerous exceptional low scores to maintain handicap fairness, indicating frequent career-best performances among participants. These findings provide a snapshot of a growing yet consistently tough sport.
