The United States has over 10,000 disc golf courses, just under 70% of the world's total. Here you can find out which U.S. states have the most courses per capita, most courses generally, and more.
The course totals you'll find here come courtesy of the disc golfers who power UDisc Courses, the largest and most frequently updated disc golf course directory in existence.
Here's what you'll find, in order, in the rest of this post:
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- Interesting Facts & Tidbits
- A little bit about what counted as a "course"
- All 50 U.S. states ranked by disc golf courses per capita
- Top 25 U.S. states in disc golf courses added between 2020 and 2022
- All 50 U.S. states ranked by disc golf course total
#1 State in Disc Golf Courses Per Capita Defends Its Top Spot
When we last ran these numbers in 2022, Kansas overtook Iowa as the country's #1 in disc golf courses per capita. This time around there's no new champion as the Sunflower State defended its title.
Kansas' course-building did slow down a bit, though. From 2020 to 2022, the state added over 60 new courses. From 2022 to 2024, it added just over 30. We'll be interested to find out if Kansas' course-building pace is enough to keep it in the top spot next time around.
To see Kansas' best disc golf courses, check out its section in our post on the five best disc golf courses in each U.S. state.
Top 25 Almost Entirely States with Below-Average Population
The average population of U.S. states is around 6,685,000. Only three states in the top 50% of disc golf course per capita rankings have a population that crests that average – Michigan, Indiana, and North Carolina.
There are some likely explanations for this, with the biggest one being that many less populated states tend to have more room for courses, and in a per capita ranking, one extra course goes a lot further toward moving the needle in these states than in more populated ones.
However, low population doesn't always equal space. A few of the states with relatively low populations that aren't in the top 25 are in the densely-populated Northeast and are also the smallest states by area: Rhode Island (50th in area), Delaware (49th in area), and Connecticut (48th in area).
Biggest Moves Up & Down
Two states made the biggest upward leap in the rankings over the last two years: Missouri and Maryland. Both moved up four spots, with Missouri (pop. 6,196,156) going from #21 to #17 after adding 51 courses from 2022 to 2024 and Maryland (pop. 6,180,253) from #46 to #42 thanks to 25 new disc golf facilities.
The biggest drops were three spots by Tennessee from #28 to #31 and Colorado from #16 to #19. Tennessee (pop. 7,126,489) added 18 courses over the last two years while Colorado (pop. 5,877,610) saw a net gain of just two, tying it at 44th with Delaware in courses added since 2022.
What Counted as a Disc Golf Course?
As in our look at how many disc golf courses are in the world, our goal with these stats isn't to arbitrate what counts as a disc golf course. Instead, we want to provide an indicator of the enthusiasm within each U.S. state for the sport.
Whether a course has baskets or alternative targets like tone poles, concrete tees or grass, it's still a place where people can play the sport we love and enjoy the company of friends, family, or their own thoughts. Other than invite-only courses, areas with designated places to throw from and to counted as courses for the purposes of this post.
Disc Golf Courses Per Capita: U.S. States Ranked
Which U.S. states have the most disc golf courses per capita?
Rank | State | People Per Disc Golf Course | Disc Golf Course Total | Population | '22 to '24 Change |
1 | Kansas | 7,991 | 368 | 2,9340,546 | Same |
2 | Wyoming | 8,589 | 68 | 584,057 | Same |
3 | Iowa | 8,598 | 373 | 3,207,004 | Same |
4 | North Dakota | 8,908 | 88 | 774,948 | Same |
5 | Vermont | 9,522 | 68 | 647,464 | ▲1 |
6 | South Dakota | 9,780 | 94 | 919,318 | ▼1 |
7 | Montana | 12,051 | 94 | 1,132,812 | Same |
8 | Maine | 12,352 | 113 | 1,395,722 | ▲1 |
9 | Nebraska | 12,365 | 160 | 1,978,379 | ▼1 |
10 | Alaska | 12,645 | 58 | 733,406 | ▲2 |
11 | Wisconsin | 13,077 | 452 | 5,910,955 | ▼1 |
12 | Minnesota | 13,694 | 419 | 5,737,915 | ▲1 |
13 | Idaho | 14,135 | 139 | 1,964,726 | ▼2 |
14 | West Virginia | 16,543 | 107 | 1,770,071 | ▲1 |
15 | Oklahoma | 16,682 | 243 | 4,053,824 | ▼1 |
16 | Arkansas | 18,152 | 169 | 3,067,732 | ▲1 |
17 | Missouri | 19,183 | 323 | 6,196,156 | ▲4 |
18 | Michigan | 19,265 | 521 | 10,037,261 | ▲2 |
19 | Colorado | 19,334 | 304 | 5,877,610 | ▼3 |
20 | Oregon | 19,875 | 213 | 4,233,358 | ▼2 |
21 | New Hampshire | 20,029 | 70 | 1,402,054 | ▼2 |
22 | Mississippi | 22,103 | 133 | 2,939,690 | Same |
23 | Indiana | 22,798 | 301 | 6,862,199 | ▲1 |
24 | New Mexico | 23,235 | 91 | 2,114,371 | ▼1 |
25 | North Carolina | 24,967 | 434 | 10,835,491 | Same |
26 | Kentucky | 26,782 | 169 | 4,526,154 | ▲1 |
27 | Utah | 28,246 | 121 | 3,417,734 | ▼1 |
28 | Alabama | 28,380 | 180 | 5,108,468 | ▲2 |
29 | South Carolina | 29,046 | 185 | 5,373,555 | Same |
30 | Ohio | 29,914 | 394 | 11,785,935 | ▲1 |
31 | Tennessee | 30,197 | 236 | 7,126,489 | ▼3 |
32 | Illinois | 32,681 | 384 | 12,549,689 | Same |
33 | Pennsylvania | 37,354 | 347 | 12,961,683 | ▲2 |
34 | Virginia | 37,568 | 232 | 8,715,698 | ▼1 |
35 | Washington | 39,659 | 197 | 7,812,880 | ▼1 |
36 | Texas | 43,827 | 696 | 30,503,301 | Same |
37 | Georgia | 49,238 | 224 | 11,029,227 | ▲2 |
38 | Hawaii | 49,488 | 29 | 1,435,138 | ▼1 |
39 | Louisiana | 51,390 | 89 | 4,573,749 | ▼1 |
40 | Arizona | 55,875 | 133 | 7,431,344 | Same |
41 | Connecticut | 60,286 | 60 | 3,617,176 | Same |
42 | Maryland | 62,427 | 99 | 6,180,253 | ▲4 |
43 | Massachusetts | 68,641 | 102 | 7,001,399 | Same |
44 | Delaware | 68,793 | 15 | 1,031,890 | ▼2 |
45 | California | 81,860 | 476 | 38,965,193 | ▼1 |
46 | Nevada | 84,057 | 38 | 3,194,176 | ▼1 |
47 | New York | 85,092 | 230 | 19,571,216 | ▲1 |
48 | Florida | 92,289 | 245 | 22,610,726 | ▼1 |
49 | New Jersey | 123,878 | 75 | 9,290,841 | Same |
50 | Rhode Island | 136,995 | 8 | 1,095,962 | Same |
51 | District of Columbia | 339,486 | 2 | 678,972 | Same |
Note: We know that "people per disc golf course" and "disc golf courses per capita" aren't the same thing. We opted to use the "per capita" wording here so that people looking for this information would be likely to find it. We opted to use "people per course" in our table because it's an easier way to visualize the stats' meaning.
How Many Disc Golf Courses Did U.S. States Add Between 2022 & 2024?
The U.S. had a net gain of 919 disc golf courses between 2022 and 2024. Find out which 25 states built the most of them:
Rank | State | Courses Added '22 to '24 |
1 | Michigan | 77 |
2 | Ohio | 64 |
3 | Texas | 56 |
4 | Pennsylvania | 52 |
5 | Missouri | 51 |
6 | North Carolina | 43 |
T7 | Indiana | 40 |
T7 | Illinois | 40 |
9 | New York | 38 |
10 | Kansas | 33 |
11 | Alabama | 30 |
12 | Kentucky | 28 |
13 | Georgia | 28 |
14 | Maryland | 25 |
15 | South Carolina | 23 |
16 | Iowa | 22 |
17 | Wisconsin | 20 |
18 | Minnesota | 20 |
19 | Tennessee | 18 |
T20 | Virginia | 17 |
T20 | Florida | 17 |
22 | Arkansas | 16 |
23 | Oklahoma | 15 |
24 | New Jersey | 13 |
T25 | Maine | 12 |
T25 | Massachusetts | 12 |
Excluding the United States as a whole, every state among the top 22 above added more courses than all but five of the world's countries last year– the top nine added as many or more than all but four.
Which U.S. States Have the Most Disc Golf Courses?
Though you could do it yourself based on the stats in the original per capita list, we thought we'd give you an easy time finding out which states have the most total disc golf courses, period.
Here are U.S. states ranked by total number of disc golf courses:
Rank | State | Disc Golf Course Total |
1 | Texas | 696 |
2 | Michigan | 521 |
3 | California | 476 |
4 | Wisconsin | 452 |
5 | North Carolina | 434 |
6 | Minnesota | 419 |
7 | Ohio | 394 |
8 | Illinois | 384 |
9 | Iowa | 373 |
10 | Kansas | 368 |
11 | Pennsylvania | 347 |
12 | Missouri | 323 |
13 | Colorado | 304 |
14 | Indiana | 301 |
15 | Florida | 245 |
16 | Oklahoma | 243 |
17 | Tennessee | 236 |
18 | Virginia | 232 |
19 | New York | 230 |
20 | Georgia | 224 |
21 | Oregon | 213 |
22 | Washington | 197 |
23 | South Carolina | 185 |
24 | Alabama | 180 |
T25 | Kentucky | 169 |
T25 | Arkansas | 169 |
27 | Nebraska | 160 |
28 | Idaho | 139 |
T29 | Arizona | 133 |
T29 | Mississippi | 133 |
31 | Utah | 121 |
32 | Maine | 113 |
33 | West Virginia | 107 |
34 | Massachusetts | 102 |
35 | Maryland | 99 |
T36 | Montana | 94 |
T36 | South Dakota | 94 |
38 | New Mexico | 91 |
39 | Louisiana | 89 |
40 | North Dakota | 88 |
41 | New Jersey | 75 |
42 | New Hampshire | 70 |
T43 | Wyoming | 68 |
T43 | Vermont | 68 |
45 | Connecticut | 60 |
46 | Alaska | 58 |
47 | Nevada | 38 |
48 | Hawaii | 29 |
49 | Delaware | 15 |
50 | Rhode Island | 8 |
51 | District of Columbia | 2 |
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