This surprising state has best average handicap index in the U.S.

When we released our Top 100 Courses in the U.S. and Top 100 Courses You Can Play lists this fall, a few states with the most courses and golfers overall dominated the rankings.

California, for example, came in second with 13 of the Top 100 Courses, just behind New York, and first in the Top 100 public courses ranking (11). Florida, which is practically carpeted with courses coast-to-coast, came in second on the public courses list with 9.

None of those are surprises. But when the conversation moves from states with the most top courses to the playing ability of a state’s golfers, very different states rise to the top, many of which might surprise you.

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We know this thanks to the USGA, which released a ranking of states by average handicap index. By that measure, it’s Mississippi that takes the crown with an average index of 10.7, presumably fractionally better than the state in second, Arkansas, which also sports a 10.7.

But what about California, the state that dominated our course rankings? The Golden State comes in a dismal 40th out of 51 (the ranking includes Puerto Rico), with an average handicap index of 15.2, though that’s considerably better than Florida, which comes in 46th on the list with a 16.2 average index.

The last place “honors” go to Alaska, with an average index of 16.7.

The USGA’s averages are based on the 3.2 million golfers in the U.S. who actively post scores. Overall, the average handicap index for men is 14.2 and for women it falls to 28.7.

You can see the top 10 states in the USGA’s average handicap index rating below, or you can check out the full results from the USGA’s Instagram post below that.

Top 10 states with the best average handicap index