The U.S. College Golf Landscape
There are ~2,200 college golf programs in the United States including 1,300 men’s and nearly 900 women’s programs. It’s important to realize there are golf programs of every shape, size, form, and scoring average. This ranges from top NCAA DI programs to NCAA DIII, NAIA, and Junior College programs.
Here is detailed breakdown of the number of college golf programs by division and gender and an overview of each division:
Number of U.S. College Golf Programs by Association & Division
| NCAA D1 | NCAA D2 | NCAA D3 | NAIA | NJCAA | |
| Men | 301 | 230 | 295 | 175 | 191 |
| Women | 258 | 185 | 198 | 122 | 100 |
Overview by Association & Division
The following summary courtesy of Junior Golf Hub will help you get an idea of scoring abilities at each level:
Men’s scoring averages from ’16 – ’17 season
| Ranking | NCAA D1 | NCAA D2 | NCAA D3 | NAIA | ||||
| Low Player | 5th Player | Low Player | 5th Player | Low Player | 5th Player | Low Player | 5th Player | |
| 1 – 50 | 71.3 | 74.0 | 72.8 | 75.7 | 74.1 | 77.8 | 73.9 | 77.2 |
| 51 – 100 | 71.8 | 74.8 | 73.5 | 76.3 | 75.3 | 80.2 | 74.8 | 79.0 |
| 100 – 200 | 73.0 | 75.9 | 74.9 | 79.2 | 77.1 | 83.3 | 77.4 | 84.4 |
Women’s scoring averages from ’16 – ’17 season
| Ranking | NCAA D1 | NCAA D2 | NCAA D3 | NAIA | ||||
| Low Player | 5th Player | Low Player | 5th Player | Low Player | 5th Player | Low Player | 5th Player | |
| 1 – 50 | 72.7 | 75.9 | 75.8 | 80.3 | 78.4 | 85.2 | 78.7 | 87.0 |
| 51 – 100 | 74.0 | 77.7 | 78.7 | 85.4 | 84.3 | 94.7 | 82.8 | 95.0 |
| 100 – 200 | 75.9 | 80.4 | 83.3 | 95.4 | 91.6 | 112.2 | 88.0 | 107.4 |
*Source: publicly available information sourced from team websites. Note not all programs publish scoring average information
Keep in mind when looking at these averages that a college golf is generally considered to be 3-4 strokes harder than junior golf as teams play longer courses and often in inclement fall and spring weather.
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