How many golf balls are lost every year in the US?

Every year, millions of golf balls are lost on golf courses throughout the United States. The challenging terrain, including water hazards, tall grass, and trees, makes it easy for golf balls to go missing.

Golfers use their clubs to propel the ball toward a small hole. However, rambling shots can result in the ball landing in obscure locations, making it difficult to retrieve. Despite their efforts, golfers often struggle to locate lost balls.

Now, Shaun Shienfield, founder of Found Golf Balls, estimates that his company recovers and resells millions of lost golf balls annually in the US and Canada. He believes that between three and four golf balls are lost per round, amounting to over 1.5 billion lost balls in the US every year since 2020.

How many golf balls are lost annually?

To give a perspective, around 125,000 golf balls come to rest each year at TPC Sawgrass, one of the world’s most famous golf courses. The course hosts approximately 50,000 rounds annually, averaging 137 rounds or 34 foursomes per day. On average, players lose about 2.5 golf balls per round, which is unsurprising given the challenging signature island green at the 17th hole.

Globally, 1.2 billion golf balls are manufactured yearly, with some sources suggesting the number could be as high as 2 billion. Most of these balls remain unused, stored in golf bags or garages, with an estimated half of them in this state. Additionally, a few are kept in display cases to commemorate achievements such as a “first birdie.”

The remaining golf balls are likely to be lost during play, and the more we play, the more we lose them on the course and out of bounds. In 2023, a record 45 million people played golf in the US, according to the USGA. Additionally, the R&A reported 31.6 million golfers across 146 countries. So, the only logical take from this is that we’re still going to lose balls, and to an even greater extent.