Golf Is a Simple Game, Right?

At its most basic, golf is a very simple and inexpensive game:
1. Hammer a peg into the ground.

2. Place a ball on top of the peg.

3. Swing a stick at the ball.

4. Aim the flight of the ball at a hole in the ground a few hundred yards away, trying not to hit the trees, the water, and other golfers.

That was about all that was required back when the game was new, and the basic concept still holds. There are about 26.4 million American golfers among us now, up about 50 percent from a decade ago, according to 2000 figures from the National Golf Foundation. Of that number, about 6.1 million are pretty serious about their sport, playing 25 or more rounds per year.

About half of American golfers are between the ages of 18 and 39. Another 19 percent are in their 40s, and 25 percent are seniors, age 50 and older. Women make up about 19 percent of U.S. golfers.

According to the foundation, there are more than 16,743 courses of all description in the United States, including regulation, par-3, and executive courses. Seventy-one percent of the courses are open to the public.

Florida tops the list of states with 1,228 courses, followed by California (986), Michigan (951), Texas (881), and New York (871). And finally, if you're trying to determine the highest concentration of golf holes per 100,000 population in metropolitan areas, you'll want to stay in the southeast: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (694), Naples, Florida (599), Wilmington, North Carolina (357), Fort Myers/Cape Coral, Florida (316), and Fort Pierce/Port Saint Lucie, Florida (315).