# of Courses per State

[Diskobolos]

2018 is here and with so many new courses appearing in the last year I figured now would be a good time to count down how many courses are in each state, from greatest to least.

Also I have a quick list of the top 20 countries with the most courses.

(Disclaimer: This is not meant to be a 100% percent accurate list, only a general comparison to spark conversation. I searched each state in DGCR, first for only permanent and seasonal courses. Then a second search adding in practice, temporary & extinct courses. (I used this second "total DGCR possible" count to break ties.) For the quickie international list I used the numbers found on the % Complete tab on the DGCR profile page.

Obviously this list doesn't take into account any of the many super secret unlisted courses out there or all the courses that got pulled before the site existed. Also the international list is probably way off. Finland alone has (hundreds?) of courses not listed on DGCR.)

States with the most courses
#1 - Texas 397 / 504
2 - Wisconsin 310 / 362
3 - Minnesota 301 / 345
4 - California 299 / 391
5 - Michigan 284 / 347

6 - Iowa 264 / 294
7 - Illinois 249 / 280
8 - North Carolina 248 / 305
9 - Ohio 224 / 259
10 - Kansas 202 / 244

11 - Colorado 179 / 228
12 - Pennsylvania 177 / 200
13 - Missouri 166 / 186
14 - Indiana 152 / 182
15 - Florida 148 / 189

16 - Tennessee 140 / 161
17 - Oregon 135 / 145
18 - Oklahoma 132 / 145
19 - New York 123 / 141
20 - Virginia 120 / 145

21 - Washington 119 / 145
22 - Georgia 116 / 136
23 - South Carolina 107 / 142
24 - Nebraska 99 / 100
25 - Kentucky 97 / 115

26 - Alabama 94 / 103
27 - Mississippi 87 / 96
28 - Arkansas 86 / 96
29 - Idaho 80 / 98
30 - Utah 76 / 88

31 - Arizona 69 / 82
32 - South Dakota 69 / 78
33 - Maine 66 / 84
34 - West Virginia 52 / 58
35 - Louisiana 51 / 67

36 - North Dakota 51 / 57
37/ 38 - Massachusetts 50 / 59
37/ 38 - Montana 50 / 59
39 - Maryland 43 / 47
40 - New Mexico 40 / 47

41 - Wyoming 39 / 44
42 - Vermont 38 / 48
43 - New Hampshire 36 / 43
44 - New Jersey 33 / 38
45 - Alaska 32 / 34

46 - Nevada 29 / 36
47 - Connecticut 27 / 31
48 - Delaware 13 / 15
49 - Hawaii 12 / 22
50 - Rhode Island 4 / 5

Rhode Island better watch out! The Northern Mariana Islands are at 2 courses.

Countries with the most courses
#1 - USA - 5904
2 - Finland - 438
3 - Canada - 196
4 - Sweden - 150
5 - Germany - 92
6 - Czech Republic - 54
7 - Denmark - 53
8 - UK - 49
9 - Norway - 47
10 - Japan - 46
11 - Estonia - 42
12 - Australia - 37
13 - France - 35
14 - New Zealand - 30
15 - Switzerland - 23
16 - Iceland - 22
17 - Netherlands - 19
18 - Austria - 12
19 - South Korea - 11
20 - Mexico - 7

 

[thrembo]

I didn't think that Florida would be that high. There has been an explosion of new courses the last few years though, and plenty more coming for 2018.

 

[1978]

Im surprised South Carolina is so low. there are like 15 Edge courses just in Rock Hill around Innova.

 

[DavidSauls]

Im surprised South Carolina is so low. there are like 15 Edge courses just in Rock Hill around Innova.

It's a small state.

Plus, the eastern two-thirds is something of a disc golf wasteland. Really, the concentrations are from Rock Hill to the upstate (NW corner), and just across the border from Augusta. Columbia's selection is pretty thin---odd, sandwiched between the two hotbeds of Augusta & Charlotte---and the bulk of the state, east of Columbia, and very thin on quantity and quality.

 

[Timber]

I'm surprised there are no courses in China.

 

[notroman]

The same list, but taking the population of each state/country into the equation to see how many people there are per course (using the first course count of permanent/seasonal courses). The smaller the number the better.

Another fun one to do would be to take the area of each state/country to see how many courses there are per square mile, on average.

The most meaningful metric would be percentage of population that lives within an hour of a disc golf course, but that would require a lot of work.

IA - 11706
SD - 12245
ND - 14184
KS - 14327
WY - 14940
VT - 16490
MN - 18008
WI - 18525
NE - 18874
ME - 20126
ID - 20152
AK - 22973
OR - 29112
OK - 29171
CO - 29432
MS - 34382
AR - 34411
MI - 34844
WV - 35660
MO - 36411
NH - 36763
UT - 38169
NC - 39710
IN - 43230
SC - 44625
KY - 45312
TN - 46400
AL - 51423
OH - 51655
IL - 51735
NM - 52132
WA - 58583
TX - 66620
VA - 68837
DE - 71211
PA - 72168
GA - 86139
LA - 90695
AZ - 96038
NV - 96212
HI - 117005
MO - 120883
CA - 128202
FL - 132114
CT - 133188
MA - 133856
MD - 137879
NY - 159765
RI - 262878
NJ - 269677

Finland - 12563
Iceland - 15115
Estonia - 31325
USA - 53369
Sweden - 67291
Denmark - 108467
Norway - 111879
New Zealand - 159790
Canada - 179346
Czech Republic - 196250
Switzerland - 369700
Australia - 669335
Austria - 731141
Germany - 893214
Netherlands - 894737
UK - 1289429
France - 1918800
Japan - 2753739
South Korea - 4658701
Mexico - 17571429

 

[Moose33]

I'm surprised there are no courses in China.

I know there are at least a couple that the Yikun guys play on, they must just not have listed any, or have any permanent ones.

 

[DavidSauls]

The same list, but taking the population of each state/country into the equation to see how many people there are per course (using the first course count of permanent/seasonal courses). The smaller the number the better.

Another fun one to do would be to take the area of each state/country to see how many courses there are per square mile, on average.

The most meaningful metric would be percentage of population that lives within an hour of a disc golf course, but that would require a lot of work.

That last part is Steve West stuff.

 

[Diskobolos]

I had a few surprises as well.
There are way more courses than there used to be. Ten states at 200+, most states have at least 50 and Texas is on the brink of 400. Damn.

Nevada is down near the bottom while it's neighbors Idaho & Utah are 16 places higher.

Ohio. In the top 10 and already well past 200. I knew they had a good amount of courses but I didn't realize how many. Also Tennessee is much higher than I expected.

 

[Steve West]

Shouldn't courses with more targets count for more?

 

[elmexdela]

Shouldn't courses with more targets count for more?

YEAH!!!!

 

[scarpfish]

Shouldn't courses with more targets count for more?

When they actually have 18 distinct targets, yes.

When the designer thought giving the alternate tees of their nine hole dual tee course 10-18 designations was a good idea, and you end up shooting to the same nine pins, no.

 

[Cgkdisc]

When they actually have 18 distinct targets, yes.

When the designer thought giving the alternate tees of their nine hole dual tee course 10-18 designations was a good idea, and you end up shooting to the same nine pins, no.

Should a course with 9 tees and 2 baskets per hole be considered equivalent to a course with two tees on each hole to 9 baskets?

 

[elmexdela]

solid troll scrappy.

is 9 tees with 18 baskets better or 18 tees with 9 baskets better?

i love it

 

[DavidSauls]

"Courses per state" is an interesting, but somewhat meaningless, number. Doesn't account for area, population, or the clusters around state lines, so it doesn't say a whole lot. Though 200+ is pretty good, regardless of other factors.

As soon as you start qualifying them---which courses count, or how much they count---you've inserted bias into an already-shaky number. I'm not sure that's an improvement.

 

[scarpfish]

Should a course with 9 tees and 2 baskets per hole be considered equivalent to a course with two tees on each hole to 9 baskets?

Are the alternate baskets also given 10-18 designations? I've seen that and it's equally lame.

I have no problem with dual tee (or dual basket) nine hole courses. I have a problem with calling those courses 18 hole courses when they are no different functionally.

 

[brutalbrutus]

Ohio. In the top 10 and already well past 200. I knew they had a good amount of courses but I didn't realize how many. Also Tennessee is much higher than I expected.

Cincinnati had 4 Steady Ed courses built in late 70s early 80s. So we've had an active DG scene for a long time. Add to that we have a pretty spread out suburb layout around here. So there is lots of available land for parks. Not sure how long the other clubs have been around but the Cincy club(GCFDA) celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2015 and has been active in course building for much of that time.

 

[Cgkdisc]

Are the alternate baskets also given 10-18 designations? I've seen that and it's equally lame.

I have no problem with dual tee (or dual basket) nine hole courses. I have a problem with calling those courses 18 hole courses when they are no different functionally.

So why are these two types of courses not as good for rec play as a course with one tee and one basket for 18 holes from a playability standpoint for an individual? I 100% agree they handle half the volume of players on a loaded rec course and for tournaments.

 

[GoobyPls]

Ohio. In the top 10 and already well past 200. I knew they had a good amount of courses but I didn't realize how many.

Dayton, Cinci, and Columbus all have very active clubs that work to develop & maintain courses. A quick search shows I have 43 within a 25 mile radius of my town.

 

[GoobyPls]

solid troll scrappy.

is 9 tees with 18 baskets better or 18 tees with 9 baskets better?

i love it

I'm designing a course with 1 basket and 18 tees