It is really hard to get a general size on golf courses because of other factors such as the layout and how spaced out the property is. Some parkland golf courses are smooshed together and most of the fairways are right on top of each other. Others might be strung out and twice as big in acreage!
Quick Answer:
The typical number of acres for an average golf course is 160 acres. The 160 acres number includes a small area for a practice area and a small clubhouse. The average number of acres that a golf course has can range all the way from 120 acres to 200 acres.
Obviously, this number is affected by a lot of different factors.
An executive golf course can actually be more in the 80-100-acre range, and that can vary a lot compared to a normal golf course and the size. Executive golf courses are normally not close to a par of 72 and might be more around 36 par. Par 3’s obviously takes up much less area than par 5’s that a typical golf course has.
How Many Acres in a 9 Hole Golf Course?
In general, the number of acres in a 9-hole golf course is just half of how many are at an 18-hole course. To be technical, it is a little less than half in most cases.
If a normal golf course has around 160 acres, then a 9-hole golf course most likely has around 80-100 acres. That is including the clubhouse, practice green, and driving range if there are those amenities there.
Keep in mind that this is an estimate and in some cases, the number could be a bit smaller or much larger! It depends on many factors that affect the number of acres that are in a golf course.
Factors that Affect the Number of Acres in a Golf Course
The main factors for how many acres a golf course has are:
- Length of the course- the yardage of each hole can really affect how many acres the golf course has.
- Difficulty- the level of difficulty can affect the acres in a golf course because of the doglegs and unique course additions can add or subtract area.
- Practice Range Area- the number of acres that a golf course has depends on the area of the putting green and range for your long game.
- Clubhouse Size- another important factor is the size of the clubhouse. Some courses might have a small, dinky clubhouse that takes up a small area, and others are expansive with a banquet hall, cart barn, and pro shop!
- Design- a very complex design with features like a body of water or natural feature will make the size of a golf course much larger than normal. The more complex the course is, the more acres it will require. A plain golf course can be very small in terms of acres.
The many factors that decide how large a golf course is make the numbers very broad to get an accurate estimation.
There are other minor factors that have an effect on the size of a golf course and how many acres it has, but the main factors are listed in the section of bullets above.
Check out this post on the world’s largest golf resort.
Nick is the founder of GolfSpan and an avid golfer. He's not quite a pro but has over 15 years of experience playing and coaching golfers worldwide. His mission is to bring the golfing community a better experience when it comes to choosing the right golf gear and finding the right setup for your game.
