Taking a look at the numbers behind West Penn Golf in 2025
By Josh Rowntree, Director of Communications • December 30, 2025
Golf continues to grow in popularity throughout the region and nationally, and the statistics support the trend of golf’s rise.
Both independently and through its alliance with the USGA, the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association tracks a variety of data during the year to fully understand the scope of play and the game’s rising popularity in the western half of the state.
In this article, we look at the numbers behind West Penn Golf in 2025, including Handicap Index information, rounds played details, membership and competition data and more.
Making Moves in Membership
Beginning with membership information, the WPGA saw a sizable rise in membership from the end of the 2024 active scoring season to the end of the 2025 active scoring season, as the Association’s overall membership climbed from 39,667 to 42,784 — an increase of over 3,000 people.
Since 2020, membership in the WPGA has grown a remarkable 47.8 percent, as nearly 14,000 more players have affiliated themselves with the WPGA or one of its member clubs.
The USGA/WPGA Golf Club — an online-based club for WPGA members without a specific course or club affiliation — saw sizable gains from 5,495 to 7,570 in the last year, an increase of 38 percent. Roughly two-thirds of all new WPGA members belong to the USGA/WPGA Golf Club.
Female membership in the WPGA has boomed over the last five years with growth of 28.3 percent, including nearly 400 new female members from 2024 to 2025, with around half of those coming from junior girls.
Junior membership has skyrocketed in the last five years, up a stunning 362.8 percent from 2020 to present day, including an 89.1 percent growth in the last year. The WPGA offers junior players (ages 18 and under) free membership, including access to a Handicap Index.
Handicap Index ® Info
The WPGA, in association with the USGA, tracks Handicap Index ® data throughout the year for its members.
The average Handicap Index ® of male players in Western Pennsylvania was 13.1. That number is over a full point ahead of the national average from 2024 of 14.2.
The average Handicap Index ® of female golfers in Western Pennsylvania was 27.1, which also tops the national average from 2024 of 28.7.
In Western Pennsylvania, roughly 28 percent of golfers are considered “highly skilled,” meaning that their Handicap Index ® sits under a 10.0. “Lower skilled” golfers, who have a Handicap Index over 29.1, make up around 14 percent of all players.
The largest section of golfers are defined as “medium skilled,” with players between a 10.0 and 29.0 Handicap Index ®, accounting for nearly 58 percent of active posting players in Western Pennsylvania.
Rounds Report
Based on scores entered into the GHIN app in 2025, the WPGA saw a total of 1,067,591 rounds played during 2025 (April 1 to November 14).
That number is a slight decrease from the 1,130,627 rounds posted during the 2024 season. But there’s a reason for the downturn.
Western Pennsylvania saw vicious and uncharacteristic weather during the first three months of the active season. During April, May and June, Western Pennsylvania saw 40,334 less rounds played by its members than in it did 2024.
However, in July and August of this season, there were 22,675 more rounds played than in the previous year, showing that when the weather complies, golf courses will see steady growth of play.
July was the most popular month for golf this year, with 189,897 rounds played. There were 177,422 posted rounds in August, good for second-most.
Locally, the growing trend of playing 9 holes continued, with over 19 percent of all scores posted during the active season being 9-hole rounds. That number jumped over a full percentage point from 2024.
As expected, the most popular day to golf in 2025 was on Sundays — but just barely. Only 977 more rounds were posted on Sundays than Saturdays this year. Fridays were a good day for golf, with 169,323 rounds played. This is a reversal from 2024, when Thursday rounds were more popular than Fridays.
Know someone who you think played a lot of golf this year? Well, they likely didn’t play as much as one WPGA member.
Anthony L. completed 290 rounds of golf in 2025, with Bernie M. And Ken D. Playing 243 times. These are rounds played by WPGA members and are not necessarily occurring at WPGA member clubs, as scores from outside the region may be included in these totals.
Treesdale Golf and Country Club was the most frequently played golf course in 2025, based on rounds entered to the GHIN app during the active season. Valley Brook Country Club which, like Treesdale, benefits from having three 9-hole courses as part of its facility, finished with the second-most rounds played.
The top 18-hole facility was Oakmont Country Club, which slipped from the top spot overall a year earlier. However, Oakmont’s course being closed for play for multiple weeks due to the playing of the 125th U.S. Open factored heavily into its slide.
Chartiers Country Club had the fourth-most rounds played in 2025 with Sewickley Heights Golf Club coming in fifth. The most-played public course was Lindenwood Golf Club, which placed eighth overall among all clubs. And the most popular 18-hole public facility was Olde Stonewall Golf Club.
To see a list of the Top 20 most played courses via score entry to the GHIN app, click here.
Compiling Competition DataThe WPGA hosted 29 competitions and qualifiers in 2025, as well as nine Western Pennsylvania based USGA qualifying events for national championships. Despite challenging weather conditions during the first two months of competition season, the WPGA saw solid turnout numbers.
The biggest increase in competition participation came in women’s golf, which saw an 80 percent rise in play from 2024 to 2025. The WPGA Women’s Amateur Championship saw an increase from 20 to 67 players in the event at Fox Chapel Golf Club, which also featured a new age division with the creation of the WPGA Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship.
The WPGA also added a new women’s competition with the WPGA Women’s Inter-Club Finals, which ran concurrently with the 36th WPGA Jamison Cup and brought in 36 female competitors to the competition.
Men’s golf competitions had a 10 percent increase in total participation, with the 122nd WPGA Open Championship seeing the biggest rise at a seven percent boost from a year prior. Connor Schmidt won the West Penn Open, played at Sewickley Heights Golf Club.
Junior golf participation increased five percent from 2024, mostly due to a large field of 76 players in the 105th WPGA Junior Championship at Lone Pine Country Club.
USGA qualifying numbers were strong in 2025, with 574 total players competing for spots in USGA National Championships, including 84 players who took part us U.S. Open Local Qualifying at Quicksilver Golf Club in May.
Course Rating™ Roundup
The WPGA is responsible for rating its roughly 200 member golf clubs’ courses, providing our member clubs with certified ratings of their course for members and guests to post their scores in the GHIN app and accurately track their game.
Using a combination of WPGA staff members and team of dedicated volunteers, the WPGA rated 30 courses throughout the state of Pennsylvania this year, traveling as far as Moccasin Run Golf Club to administer a Course Rating™.
Popular Play Days
Allowing WPGA members a chance to play some of the top private and public courses in the region at an affordable rate, the WPGA Play Days program grew even more in 2025.
Member clubs of the WPGA hosted 35 play days at 18 different venues in 2025, bringing in 3,151 registrations and 2,044 participants to the program.
In all, there were 511 tee times made using the WPGA Play Days program and nearly $225,000 in revenue generated directly for member clubs that host Play Days events.
Unlike a competition, Play Days allow golfers of various skill levels, ages or gender the chance to enjoy member clubs at a discounted rate. Players get to choose their playing group and tee times for an enjoyable day of golf at a WPGA member club.
For any media inquiries, please contact WPGA Director of Communications Josh Rowntree.
About the WPGA
Founded in 1899, the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association is the steward of amateur golf in the region. Started by five Member Clubs, the association now has nearly 200 Member Clubs and nearly 37,000 members. The WPGA conducts 14 individual competitions and 10 team events, and administers the WPGA Scholarship Fund and Western Pennsylvania Golf Hall of Fame.