Colorado remains at forefront of golf’s huge surge as the rate increase in the state’s rounds played in 2025 was among highest in nation
By Gary Baines – 1/30/2026
While Colorado’s population increase has slowed considerably, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, golf in the state continues to skyrocket, expanding on a trend that started with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Population growth in the Centennial State for the year ending July 1, 2025 came in at 0.4 percent, the lowest annual rate of increase since 1989.
But the number of golf rounds played in Colorado in the calendar year 2025 belied the state’s slow population growth, with a 7.8 percent increase in rounds, according to a report released this week by the National Golf Foundation and Golf Datatech.
The 7.8 percent increase is the highest for the state since a whopping 19.9 percent jump in 2020, the year Covid took hold in the U.S.
And Colorado far outpaced the overall national increase in golf rounds for 2025, reported as 1.2 percent. The state far surpassed the national norm in 2024 as well — with a 6.2 percent increase in Colorado compared to 2.2 percent nationwide.
Equally notable is how much rounds played in Colorado have increased over the last six years — a whopping 33.38 percent. In other words, in 2025 there were a third more rounds played in the state than in 2019. For a theoretical average Colorado course where 30,000 rounds were played in 2019, that would mean a jump to over 40,000 in 2025.
Here are the year-to-year increases/decreases Colorado golf courses have experienced in rounds played over the last six years, according to the National Golf Foundation and Golf Datatech:
2020 — +19.9%
2021 — -2.1%
2022 — -4.1%
2023 — +3.5%
2024 — +6.2%
2025 — +7.8%
To put 2025’s 7.8 percentage increase into perspective, NGF and Golf Datatech’s report includes figures for 34 states or combination of states. Out of those 34, only two surpassed Colorado: Nevada was up 9 percent and a combination of Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and Utah increased 8.2 percent.
For the record, the rounds played report also includes figures for some large metro areas, and Denver-area rounds were up a whopping 10.9 percent in 2025.
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.
Nationally, NGF and Golf Datatech reported that private course rounds were up 3 percent nationwide in 2025, while public-access rounds increased 0.7 percent.
“More people are playing golf in more ways than any time in recorded history,” NGF president and CEO Greg Nathan, who gave a state-of-the-industry update at the recent PGA Merchandise Show, noted in a year-end letter to the industry. “… The vital signs of our industry suggest this generational activity the industry is experiencing is, in fact, sustainable. Nothing grows to the sky, but the dynamics of the golf economy are strong, and the business of golf is in a position to be more resilient to external pressures than last time we were on such a heater (1997-2004).”
NGF reported that traditional on-course participation hit 29.1 million golfers in 2025 in the U.S.
Also taking into account those who play off course with a full swing, real clubs and a real ball (at golf entertainment spots such Topgolf, via a simulator or at other practice spaces), more than 48 million people in the U.S. participated in golf in 2025, according to the NGF.
The overall jump in golf participation has been reinforced by a large influx of female, youth and African American golfers. In the case of females, a record of more than 8 million are participating in on-course golf, a jump of 46 percent since 2019. Juniors in the game are up almost 60 percent over the same period.
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