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Published July 16, 2026 · GolfNexus
GolfNexus's directory tracks 733 NCAA college golf programs across all 50 states, with Alaska the only state at zero, and 58 conferences. Division I accounts for 581 of those 733 programs (79.3%). Texas and California lead every state with 51 and 50 programs respectively, and the top 10 states alone hold 50.6% of the entire directory. Only 52.5% of programs publish a recruiting questionnaire, and counterintuitively Division II and III programs publish one at a higher rate than Division I.
Cite this study
GolfNexus. "The State of College Golf 2026." GolfNexus, July 16, 2026. https://golfnexususa.com/data/state-of-college-golf.
The Landscape
The GolfNexus directory tracks 733 college golf programs: 456 men's teams and 277 women's teams, spread across three NCAA divisions. Division I is the majority of the directory by a wide margin, 79.3% of every program on file.
| Division | Programs | Men's | Women's | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCAA Division I | 581 | 304 | 277 | |
| NCAA Division II | 80 | 80 | – | |
| NCAA Division III | 72 | 72 | – |
Coverage note: every Division II and Division III program on file is a men's team. Women's D2/D3 golf programs exist in real life but are not yet in this directory, so the women's column above is a directory gap, not a claim that D2/D3 women's golf doesn't exist. NAIA and NJCAA programs are also not yet in this dataset (they have separate conference directories at /college/naia-njcaa, not per-program coach data).
The Map
Programs concentrate hard in a handful of states. The top 10 states, Texas, California, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida, South Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, hold 50.6% of every program in the directory. At the other end, Alaska is the only state with zero programs on file, and Vermont, Delaware, Hawaii, Montana, Wyoming, Maine have three or fewer.
| State | Programs | Concentration |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | 51 | |
| California | 50 | |
| North Carolina | 45 | |
| New York | 43 | |
| Pennsylvania | 38 | |
| Virginia | 34 | |
| Florida | 29 | |
| South Carolina | 29 | |
| Ohio | 27 | |
| Tennessee | 25 | |
| Illinois | 23 | |
| Indiana | 22 | |
| Massachusetts | 21 | |
| Alabama | 17 | |
| Michigan | 17 | |
| Kentucky | 16 | |
| Georgia | 15 | |
| New Jersey | 15 | |
| Colorado | 13 | |
| Utah | 13 | |
| Connecticut | 12 | |
| Louisiana | 12 | |
| Maryland | 12 | |
| Oklahoma | 12 | |
| Minnesota | 11 | |
| Washington | 11 | |
| Arkansas | 10 | |
| Missouri | 8 | |
| Arizona | 7 | |
| Iowa | 7 | |
| Mississippi | 7 | |
| Rhode Island | 7 | |
| Kansas | 6 | |
| Nebraska | 6 | |
| Oregon | 6 | |
| South Dakota | 6 | |
| Wisconsin | 6 | |
| District of Columbia | 5 | |
| Idaho | 5 | |
| New Hampshire | 5 | |
| New Mexico | 5 | |
| Nevada | 4 | |
| North Dakota | 4 | |
| West Virginia | 4 | |
| Maine | 3 | |
| Delaware | 2 | |
| Hawaii | 2 | |
| Montana | 2 | |
| Wyoming | 2 | |
| Vermont | 1 | |
| Alaska | 0 |
All 50 states plus DC. State names link to the full program directory for that state.
The Academic Reality
Institutional academics (admission rate, average SAT, tuition) come from the US Department of Education College Scorecard, joined to the 733 of 733 programs (100%) where we have a matching institution on file. Figures describe the school as a whole, not a golf-specific admissions bar. The counterintuitive finding: Division III golf programs post the highest average SAT score and the lowest average admit rate of the three divisions, well ahead of Division I, because the D3 golf footprint leans heavily on academically selective private schools (NESCAC, UAA, and similar conferences).
| Division | Avg. admit rate | Avg. SAT | Avg. tuition (in-state) | Avg. tuition (out-of-state) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCAA Division I | 67.9%(n=574) | 1240(n=480) | $26,616 | $36,642(n=577) |
| NCAA Division II | 79.1%(n=75) | 1124(n=55) | $26,484 | $29,991(n=80) |
| NCAA Division III | 44.9%(n=72) | 1380(n=64) | $58,307 | $58,307(n=71) |
“n” is the number of programs in that division with a verified value for that field. Coverage is not 100% for every field; SAT average is the least complete (many schools are test-optional and don't report a school-wide average).
The Access Layer
385 of 733 programs (52.5%) publish a recruiting questionnaire on their athletics site, the standard first self-serve contact point for a prospective recruit. Division I publishes the fewest by rate, not the most: D2 and D3 programs are meaningfully more likely to have one on file. That tracks with how each tier actually recruits. Power-conference D1 coaches build interest lists off rankings and tournament visibility and rarely need an inbound form; D2 and D3 coaches depend more on recruits finding them.
| Division | Programs | With questionnaire | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| NCAA Division I | 581 | 278 | 47.8% |
| NCAA Division II | 80 | 60 | 75% |
| NCAA Division III | 72 | 47 | 65.3% |
What it means for families: a program without a public questionnaire isn't unreachable, it just means direct email outreach (not a form) is the actual first move. GolfNexus Premium surfaces the questionnaire link and verified coach emails where we have them, program by program.
Methodology
This study is computed directly from two tables GolfNexus maintains for the coach directory: a program directory of 733 college golf programs (name, division, conference, state, city, gender, head and assistant coach) last verified May 18, 2026, and a School Insights table (recruiting questionnaire, camps page, roster size, and institutional academics) collected July 16, 2026. Academics (admission rate, SAT average, tuition) are sourced from the US Department of Education College Scorecard, 2023-24 data year. Questionnaire, camps, and roster links are collected directly from official athletics websites.
What it covers: NCAA Division I, II, and III programs with a named coaching staff. 733 programs, 456 men's and 277 women's, across 58 conferences and all 50 states plus DC.
What it does not cover: NAIA and NJCAA golf programs are not yet in this directory at the per-program level (they exist as conference/entry directories at /college/naia-njcaa, not full program rows). Division II and III women's golf is not yet represented, a real gap in the directory, not a claim that those programs don't exist. Academic figures describe the institution as a whole, not golf-specific admissions standards, and coverage is uneven by field (see the “n” counts in the tables above). This is not a performance or rankings dataset. It contains no team results, scoring averages, or win-loss records.
Every number on this page traces back to a row in one of those two tables. Nothing here is an estimate, an industry figure, or a number pulled from outside our own dataset.