In an era when golf course closures far outweigh new openings – a market correction that’s the result of oversupply in the industry coupled with a strong demand for real estate — here’s a look at facilities that have escaped the chopping block. From the posh Wynn Golf Club on the Las Vegas Strip to a 9-hole layout in Nebraska that costs just $9 to walk on weekdays.

It’s undeniable there have been more golf course closures than openings in the U.S. over the past 13 years. But do you realize that more than 720 golf courses have opened around the country during that period? That total, during what’s looked at as a “down period” for the industry, is more than the entire golf course supply in nations such as Scotland, Ireland, Spain and South Africa.

The NGF’s annual Facilities Report provides a comprehensive overview of golf facility supply in the U.S., the world’s best-supplied golf market.

The terms “facility” and “course” are occasionally used interchangeably both in and out of the golf industry, but they can be quite different. Throughout the years, many media outlets have taken the NGF’s total number for facilities and conflated that with courses even though these two counts are more than 2,000 apart. Why are there two different measures?

A new year is a time for optimism and to look forward to what’s to come in the months ahead. The NGF’s facility database shows at least 18 U.S. facilities are scheduled to open either 9- or 18-hole courses this year. Here are some of the notable openings scheduled for 2019.