Map / Guide

How to Keep Track of the Golf Courses You've Played

If you play golf for more than a few seasons, the courses start to blur together. This guide covers what's worth writing down, the main ways to keep a record, how public, semi-private and private courses differ, and how to plan a golf road trip.

Open the map →Browse state guides

Why keep a list of courses at all?

Memory is a poor scorekeeper. A year after a trip you'll remember that one hole overlooking the water, but not which course it was on. A simple record turns scattered rounds into something you can look back on: where you've been, which places you'd happily return to, and how many corners of your state or the country you still haven't seen.

It also makes planning easier. When a friend asks where to play near a town you visited two summers ago, you'll have an answer.

What's worth writing down

• The course and the town. Many courses share names, so the town matters.
• The date. It lets you see how your game and your travels have changed.
• A one-line memory. The signature hole, the weather, who you played with.
• Whether you'd go back. This is the note you'll use most when planning.
• Optional extras: your score, the tees you played, what you paid, how you got the tee time.

Ways to keep track

A spreadsheet

Fully flexible and free, and you can sort and filter however you like. The downside is that it has no sense of place: a column of town names doesn't show you the shape of your golf life.

A notes app

Quick to update from the parking lot, but hard to search and impossible to see at a glance once the list gets long.

A golf GPS or scoring app

These are great during a round. Many focus on scores and shot tracking rather than building a lasting list of the places you've played.

A map

A map shows where you've been and, just as usefully, where you haven't. That's the idea behind Clubhouse Collector: open a state, tick the courses you've played, and watch your progress fill in. It's free, works without an account, and you can sign in with Google if you want your list on every device.

Public, semi-private and private courses

You'll see all three labels on the map, and the difference matters when you're deciding where to play.

• Public: open to anyone who books a tee time and pays the green fee. This includes municipal (city- or county-run) courses and many daily-fee courses.
• Semi-private: a mix. Members get priority, and the public can usually play at certain times or by booking ahead.
• Private: generally for members and their guests. Some offer limited outside play, resort-guest access, or reciprocal agreements with other clubs, but you should always ask first.
• "Not confirmed": on our map this means the data source doesn't say. Check with the course before you go.

Rules, prices and names change over time, so treat any listing, including ours, as a starting point and confirm with the pro shop.

Planning a golf road trip

1. Pick a region and a window. A long weekend around one town works better than trying to cover a whole state.
2. List candidate courses. Add them to the road trip planner on the map as you find them.
3. Check access. Make sure each course is open to you, and note any that are private.
4. Group by distance. Put nearby courses on the same day and avoid long drives between rounds. The planner can reorder your stops to shorten the total drive.
5. Book early for popular courses and keep a backup or two in case of weather.
6. Get real directions. Our distances and drive times are rough estimates, not live traffic, so open the finished route in Google Maps before you leave.

Course etiquette in a nutshell

Keep pace with the group ahead, repair your ball marks and divots, rake the bunkers after you play out of them, follow the cart rules posted at the course, and be ready to hit when it's your turn. Nobody minds a bad shot; they mind a slow round.

Frequently asked questions

Is Clubhouse Collector free?

Yes. The site is free to use and supported by advertising.

Do I need an account?

No. Without signing in, your list is saved in your own browser. Signing in with Google syncs it between your devices.

Where does the course data come from?

Course locations come from OpenStreetMap contributors through OpenGolfAPI, plus a smaller set of courses we researched by hand. See the credits on the About page.

Why is a course missing, or listed wrong?

Coverage is uneven, and open map data can lag behind real life. If something is missing or wrong, email [email protected] and we'll look into it.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes. The map is built to work on phones, with a pull-up list of courses along the bottom of the screen.

What does "Not confirmed" mean next to a course?

It means our data source doesn't say whether the course is public, semi-private or private. We'd rather say so than guess.

Open the map →Browse state guides

Curious how the whole country adds up? See U.S. golf by the numbers: the states with the most courses, where public golf dominates, and the biggest golf towns.