Which U.S. cities are like a second home to the avid golfer? To mark National Golf Lover’s Day on Oct. 4, LawnStarter ranked 2023’s Best Cities for Golfers. And Arizona has six of the 50 Best Cities for Golfers:

Ranking Arizona: Top 10 public golf courses

  • Scottsdale – 1st
  • Tucson – 6th
  • Phoenix – 18th
  • Surprise – 22nd
  • Mesa – 24th
  • Peoria – 47th
  • Chandler – 57th

Our analysts at LawnStarter compared the 200 biggest U.S. cities based on 6 categories. More specifically, we factored in public and premium course access, course quality, golfer groups, and climate, among 25 metrics.Find out if your city is up to par in our ranking below. To learn how we ranked the cities, see our methodology.

The Upshot

Fore-word

Although “warm and sunny” doesn’t guarantee a high ranking on our list, a mild climate makes for perfect golf weather. Of the top 25 cities for golf, 16 ranked in the top half of our Climate category.

The top half of our ranking is dominated by Southern cities. Outside of a few Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania cities, the large majority are in lower latitudes.

Good weather also makes for great turf conditions. Public and Premium Course Access is a major factor in golfability, so it’s no surprise that the highest-ranked cities generally have the most courses.

Standout Stats

Scottsdale Is King

  • For the second year in a row, the low round of the day goes to Scottsdale, Arizona, which ranked top 5 in 5 of 6 categories. Scottsdale blew away the competition, scoring a hole-in-one in Public Course Access, Premium Course Access, Training Access, and Course Quality. It also ranked No. 2 in Community. 

The Home of Golf

  • At No. 2 overall, Orlando, Florida, was the only other city apart from Scottsdale, Arizona, with a top-5 ranking in at least 2 categories (No. 2 in both Premium Course Access and Training Access). Orlando also ranked top 10 in Public Course Access (No. 6) and Course Quality (No. 8). Orlando really is one of the most magical places on Earth — for golfers.

The Perfect Storm

  • Florida-based golfers might feel they missed the fairway with only 2 Florida cities, Orlando and Tampa, appearing in our top 25. That’s a bit of an eyebrow raiser for those familiar with Florida’s reputation as a golf hotbed — or even the “golf capital of the world,” thanks to legend Arnold Palmer. Florida cities were dinged for their Climate scores because of the hot, humid, and thunderstorm-y summers that the state is well known for.

Golden Statement

  • California and Arizona each have 5 cities in the top 25, making them the most golf-friendly states on our list. California golfers will feel they won the match, however, with a total of 9 cities in our top 50 compared with Arizona’s 6.

Biggest Movers

  • St. Louis was the top-25 city that jumped the highest from our 2022 ranking. The Gateway to the West Golf shot 57 spots up the leaderboard from No. 68 to No. 11 thanks to new metrics in our methodology, particularly amateur golf contests (No. 9). Sacramento was the biggest overall mover, climbing 125 spots — from No. 157 to No. 32 — after scoring an ace in Community.

Putting Golf at a Premium

  • The best cities on our list make top-tier golf a priority. Every city in the top 10 ranks 34th or better in Premium Course Access, with 8 ranking 15th or better. They also score highly on Course Quality, with only 3 ranked lower than 26th and 5 ranked in the top 10.