The National Golf Foundation occasionally looks into the cost of golf to underscore the fact that the game is affordable, even in the face of a recession.

The average cost of "public" golf in the U.S. in 2008 is around $50. This figure represents the published "in-season," weekend green fees and golf car fee (rack rate) at 18-hole public golf courses. Because of the competitiveness of the market, this fee is rarely achieved and therefore the actual cost to play is less.

Daily Fee golf courses, which are privately owned but open to the public, charge on average about $10 more per round than their municipally-owned counterparts.

The cost to play at newer golf facilities is higher than at older ones. This is true for both daily fee and municipal courses and is due to the fact that newer courses cost more to build and therefore must charge more to pay off the debt associated with development.

9-hole facilities, which number around 4,500, are considerably more affordable. The comparable average cost is $29 vs. $51 at 18-hole facilities (or about 43 percent less.)