A Reason Foundation review of government financial statements found 221 local governments that reported running golf courses in their 2020 financial reports. Of those 221 local governments, 155 local governments lost money operating public golf courses in fiscal 2020. In the aggregate, these 155 local governments lost a total of $61 million in taxpayer money operating golf courses in the 2020 fiscal year.
In contrast, 62 of the 221 local governments broke even or turned a profit on their public golf courses in 2020. In the aggregate, these 62 governments made $16 million via their public golf courses in fiscal 2020.
