US average handicaps, top states plus 7 more facts from the 2025 report

How did you play last year? Don’t give us your feeling. Supply us with hard numbers, the kind of stats you get from counting every hit and posting every score. This is what is required to maintain an accurate handicap. It is not difficult. Lots of people do – 3.68 million golfers in the United States alone. (Don’t have a handicap? You can sign up for one here.)

In 2025, they posted 82 million rounds under World Handicap Systema local record. The USGA numbered each one and printed those numbers to produce 2025 golf scorecarda summary of data-driven findings that provide a snapshot of trends in play. Here are seven that caught our eye.

More golfers are keeping score

The 3.68 million players holding a handicap in 2025 represents an 8.2 percent increase from 2024 and a 46 percent increase since 2020. Another way to put it is that the number of players holding a handicap has increased by about 1.16 million since Covid hit.

Average handicaps are not budgeted

With so many new players getting into the game, you can expect handicap averages to rise. But there have been no dramatic changes in these figures. In 2025, the average handicap was 14.0 for male golfers and 28.8 for female golfers. In 2020, these figures were 14.2 and 27.7, respectively. The more things change, the more they discover that this game is really hard.

Scratch golfers are unicorns

Many golfers dream of hitting the tee. Very few do. Only 2 percent of male players have handicaps of 0 or lower. Women golfers with scratches are even harder to find. They make up only .85 percent of girls and women with disabilities.

Florida posted the most rounds (Ok, no shock there)

When you have year-round weather and courses around every corner, the numbers add up. Florida golfers recorded more total rounds than any other state in 2025. The Sunshine State’s dominance in raw volume comes as a shock to absolutely no one who has ever spent January north of the Mason-Dixon line.

Maine crowned the most golf-obsessed state in the Northeast

Here’s one we didn’t see coming. Despite having one of the shortest seasons in the country, Maine claimed the title of the most golfing state in the Northeast. The USGA formula divided the total rounds posted by the number of golfers carrying a handicap, then divided again by the number of days the scoring system was open for posting. It turns out that when you can only play half the year, you make every available day count. Florida led the Southeast, Wisconsin led the Midwest, Colorado ruled the Central region and Arizona won the West.

Arkansas golfers are the best in America (by the numbers)

If you’re looking for the lowest average men’s handicap in the country, head to Arkansas. Golfers in the Natural State scored better numbers than anywhere else in the country. Whether it’s the quality of the teaching, the courses, or just a particularly dedicated group of players who take care of their games, Arkansas earned bragging rights as home to America’s best golfers with an average handicap (10.6). For women, Mississippi had the lowest average (22.0).

Nine-hole rounds are the new normal

Among golfers who created a handicap in 2025, half of all posted women’s scores came from nine-hole rounds. For men, this figure was about a quarter. The data confirms what many already suspected: shorter formats are attracting players who don’t have four hours to spare, and nine holes is just as legitimate a way to enjoy the game.

Career days were surprisingly ordinary

“I never play that well,” your opponent tells you as he takes your money after the round. We’re not saying you were full of sand. Not even the USGA says that. But the governing body tracks extremely low scores—rounds that fall well below a player’s established pattern. These “extraordinary score drops” cause a handicap adjustment to keep things straight. In 2025, golfers posted many more extraordinary rounds, the kind where everything just happened to click. The system scored them and made the appropriate adjustments to keep the handicaps a more accurate reflection of the ability.

To browse the entire report yourself, click here.