In 2005 Golf Digest calculated that the countries with most golf courses per capita, in order, were: Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Canada, Wales, United States, Sweden, and England (countries with fewer than 500,000 people were excluded).

The number of courses in other territories has increased, an example of this being the expansion of golf in China. The first golf course in China opened in 1984, but by the end of 2009 there were roughly 600 in the country. For much of the 21st century, development of new golf courses in China has been officially banned (with the exception of the island province of Hainan), but the number of courses had nonetheless tripled from 2004 to 2009; the "ban" has been evaded with the government's tacit approval simply by not mentioning golf in any development plans.

In the United States, the number of people who play golf twenty-five times or more per year decreased from 6.9 million in 2000 to 4.6 million in 2005, according to the National Golf Foundation. The NGF reported that the number who played golf at all decreased from 30 to 26 million over the same period.

In February 1971, astronaut Alan Shepard became the first person to golf anywhere other than Earth. He smuggled a golf club and two golf balls on board Apollo 14 with the intent to golf on the Moon. He attempted two drives. He shanked the first attempt, but it is estimated his second went more than 200 yards (180 m).

Golf courses worldwide

Below are the top 20 countries that have the most golf courses as of 2019.

Country	Number of courses	%
USA	16,752	43%
Japan	3,169	8%
Canada	2,633	7%
England	2,270	6%
Australia	1,616	4%
Germany	1,050	3%
France	804	2%
South Korea	798	2%
Sweden	662	2%
Scotland	614	2%
China	599	1%
Spain	497	1%
Ireland	494	1%
South Africa	489	1%
New Zealand	418	1%
Argentina	349	1%
Denmark	346	1%
Netherlands	330	1%
Italy	321	1%
Thailand	315	1%
Rest of the world	4,338	11%
Total	38,864	100%

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