As the playing season begins to throttle down throughout much of the country, the golf boom appears to be hanging on, according to the Golf Datatech Monthly Rounds Played Report.
Year-over-year rounds played in July were down 3.6 percent compared with the same month in 2025. For the year, however, rounds were up 2.5 percent through the first seven months vs. the same period last year.
Some areas of the country were plagued by unseasonably hot conditions in July, while others were subject to excessive rain totals. The result was an increase in rounds played for the month in only eight states.
Three states skewed the national rounds played numbers.
North and South Dakota led the way with a 43 percent increase in monthly rounds in July when compared with July 2025, and Indiana was next with an increase of 16 percent. Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi and Wisconsin all came in at 1 percent. Every other state experienced a decrease in monthly rounds played.
The greatest losses were in New York (down 12 percent) where precipitation throughout the region was up by an average of 30 percent in July. Play also was down in Texas (-11 percent) and Oklahoma (-10 percent).
The good news is that play is up for the year in 37 states. The greatest year-to-date gains were in Indiana (16 percent) and a few non-golf centric locations such as the Dakotas (14 percent) and Kentucky and Tennessee (12 percent each), all of which benefitted from seasonal temperatures and dry conditions.
Year-to-date losses in rounds were minimal through July, with the worst being a decrease of 3 percent in New York, with the rest all at about 1 percent or less.
