Over the past six years (2020 to 2025), the U.S. golf industry has seen a 45 percent rise in the number of on-course female golfers, according to new analysis by the National Golf Foundation (NGF).
During that same six-year span, there’s been a corresponding 12 percent rise among the male golfer population, a net increase of 2.3 million players.
On-course, female golf participation has experienced a net gain of 2.5 million from 2020 to 2025, climbing to more than 8.1 million, the highest count on record. In total, women and girls have accounted for 52 percent of the net participation gains in green grass golf from 2020 to 2025, according to NGF. This shift has helped push female representation within the traditional golfer population to 28 percent, the highest proportion on record, and up from 20 percent in 2012.
NGF noted that the momentum of recent years has more than reversed the declines in female participation following the Great Recession. Prior to the past two years, the highest number of on-course, female golfers was 7.1 million in 2006.
Female participation levels began to recover after 2012, but engagement accelerated more recently with the pandemic and the arrival of new off-course golf options that helped provide greater access and lower the game’s intimidation factor, according to NGF.
The organization concluded in a press release, “Today, women and girls not only make up a higher proportion of new golfers, including beginners and returners, but they also have greater representation among off-course only participants and among non-golfers who are interested in playing on a course. The critical component for continued industry health is ensuring that the women and girls who have discovered (or rediscovered) golf in recent years remain committed. Welcoming environments and programming would support this, both on and off the course, as do targeted equipment, instruction and apparel.”
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