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How much water does a golf course use per acre?

Author

William Rodriguez

Published Jan 25, 2026

Water use varies significantly by agronomic region. An average 18-hole golf facility in the Southwest region uses an average of 4 acre-feet of water per irrigated acre per year. An average 18-hole golf facility in the Northeast region uses an average of 0.8 acre-feet of water per irrigated acre per year.

How much water does it take for a golf course?

Depending on the location of the golf course and the climate, an 18-hole course can use on average 2.08 billion gallons of water per day. Depending on the amount of water needed, a typical golf course can spend between $7,000 and $108,000 per year.

How much water do American golf courses use?

Audubon International estimates that the average American course uses 312,000 gallons per day. In a place like Palm Springs, where 57 golf courses challenge the desert, each course eats up a million gallons a day.

Why does golf use a lot of water?

3. Water use has a major influence on the playability of a golf course. Judicious water use that emphasizes firm, fast conditions is more enjoyable for all skill levels of golfers and is a goal that the USGA strongly supports.

How much water does a California golf course use?

In California, an average 18-hole golf course sprawls over 110 to 115 acres and conservatively uses almost 90 million gallons of water per year, enough to fill 136 Olympic-size swimming pools, said Mike Huck, a water management consultant who works with golf courses statewide.

35 related questions found

Do golf courses use fresh water?

The Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD), which serves 105 of the golf courses, draws from the California Water Project, the Colorado River and the aquifer. Kessler, who heads up the Coachella Valley Golf and Water Task Force, said much of the water used to irrigate golf courses is non-potable.

Are golf courses wasting water?

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. golf courses consume more than 2 billion gallons of water per day, and since one in every 17 of U.S. courses is located in arid and semi-arid California, our 921 courses consume a sizable chunk of that total daily.

Do golf courses use too much water?

Courses around the U.S. suck up around approximately 2.08 billion gallons of water per day for irrigation. That's about 130,000 gallons per day per course, according to the golf industry.

How do golf courses conserve water?

Any rain that falls on the buildings, pavement and cart paths goes into one of the course reservoirs — which form the major water features on the course. And underground, there are giant cisterns that hold millions of gallons of runoff water from the course.

How much water do Palm Springs golf courses use?

The water district says that on average, each course uses about 1 million gallons a day.

How much water does a 18 hole golf course use?

Using water use data nationally, an 18-hole golf course uses an average of 152.5 acre-feet of water per year to irrigate 80.7 acres of turfgrass.

How much water do Utah golf courses use?

The 30 or so golf courses in the Salt Lake County of Utah drink up around nine million gallons of water a day to stay pristine green — that's more than 13 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Are golf courses bad for the environment?

Environmentalists argue that golf course land is not only a waste of space, but also harbors harmful impacts to the earth and environment, such as pesticide use. This negative impact occurs by using large quantities of water and destroying habitats for wildlife species.

How big is the average golf course?

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.

How much water do golf courses use in Arizona?

The records show 219 golf courses across Arizona used a total of 119,478 acre-feet of water in 2019. The average amount of water used per course was 504 acre-feet during the year, or about 450,000 gallons a day.

How many acres of golf courses are in California?

In total, superin tendents and their staffs worked the equivalent of 13,841 full-time jobs to care for golf landscapes in 2000. California's golf course facilities in 2000 covered 137,297 acres.

How many golf courses are in California?

Number of Golf Courses in the State of California: 921

California is more than just beaches and surfing. It's also home to 921 beautiful golf courses, including four of the top 25 courses in the USA according to Business Insider.

Why do golf courses drink water everyday?

Typically, putting greens are irrigated at night or early in the morning. However, during periods of hot weather or low humidity, turf may need additional water throughout the day because soils can quickly dry out. Light watering during the day helps keep putting greens healthy and playing well.

How do golf courses use recycled water?

In addition to making good use of a degraded water source, turf serves a vital role in cleansing nutrients and contaminants from the recycled water as it moves through the soil and into the aquifer. Nationwide, approximately 13% of golf courses use recycled water for irrigation.

How many golf courses are there in the United States?

There are 9,473 Golf Courses & Country Clubs businesses in the US as of 2022, a decline of -0.7% from 2021.

How many golf courses are in the Coachella Valley?

The part of the Coachella Valley often referred to as the Palm Springs area, east of Los Angeles, is carpeted in green, 124 irrigated golf courses, many with lakes, in an otherwise parched landscape.

What percentage of the world's water is fresh water?

In the first bar, notice how only 2.5% of Earth's water is freshwater - the amount needed for life to survive. The middle bar shows the breakdown of freshwater. Almost all of it is locked up in ice and in the ground. Only a little more than 1.2% of all freshwater is surface water, which serves most of life's needs.

How much water does a golf green need?

A healthy, high-quality turf may need up to 1¾ inches of water per week to keep it growing vigor- ously under hot, dry, windy summer conditions. This total water requirement includes both rainfall and irrigation.

Are golf courses a waste of land?

Golf courses account for more than 5.1 million acres of land worldwide. That land that could be used as wooded areas, farmland, animal habits, wetlands and countless other activities that are far more useful to society than golf. Golf courses use 13 trillion gallons of water every year.