There are more new U.S. golf course projects in development – new courses or additions at existing facilities or properties – than at any time since 2013.
While current under-construction and in-planning counts are a far cry from the 400+ that were being built two decades ago, the active total is almost double the recent three-year pre-pandemic average.
While NGF’s Construction Report shows active course projects underway in 32 states, development is concentrated most heavily in Florida, Texas and South Carolina. Together, these three states are home to 40% of new course activity – benefitting from warmer weather, a relative abundance of open land, steady population growth and strong tourism or out-of-state visitors.
New course development skews more private and high-end, with over half of the projects under construction or in-planning at private clubs. Approximately 62% of those in the pipeline in Florida, Texas and South Carolina fall in the private category.
More than 20 courses have already opened this year, from the official resort debuts of the first course at Rodeo Dunes in Roggen, CO, and The Commons at Sand Valley in Nekoosa, WI, to the unveils of private clubs such as High Grove (FL), Trout National (NJ), Anson Point at Palmetto Bluff (SC) and The Bounty Club (TN).
NGF’s Construction Report indicates another 25 or so new courses or additions are expected to open over the next several months, from Bone Valley at Streamsong Resort (FL) and The Matchbox par-3 course at Tobacco Road (NC) to a host of private clubs in shorter golf season states like Montana, South Dakota and Utah.
The recent uptick in development comes as U.S. on-course participation levels have swelled by more than four million over the past five years.
From a supply stability standpoint, today’s market is unlikely to see oversupply repeat itself, since availability and cost of land and construction are simply at too high of a premium for the kind of dilution that built in the 1990s and into the early 2000s. Rather than another “bubble,” it’s why the moderate growth in new golf course projects appears durable.