The Next Generation Is Picking Up Golf — And It's Good News for Communities Like Santaluz

Golf is in the middle of a growth streak that hasn't been seen in over two decades — and this time, it's being led by kids, not retirees. For a guard-gated golf community like Santaluz, that shift is worth noting, both as a lifestyle story and as a real estate one.

A Junior Golf Boom, By the Numbers

Nearly 4 million children ages 6 to 17 played golf on a course in the U.S. last year — the highest level since 2004, and a 58% jump since 2019. That's the largest increase of any age group in the sport. The gender gap is narrowing too: 35% of today's junior golfers are girls, more than double the share in 2000, with programs like LPGA-USGA Girls Golf now reaching over 120,000 girls annually at 600+ sites worldwide.

Overall U.S. golf participation hit a record 48.1 million players in 2025, and industry researchers project the sport will cross 50 million participants by the end of 2026 for the first time ever. Junior golf is the engine behind a lot of that momentum — access programs offering steeply discounted rounds, growing off-course formats like simulators and entertainment venues, and a generation of parents who themselves grew up in golf's post-Tiger Woods boom are all feeding the pipeline.

Why This Matters for a Community Like Ours

A wave of new 10-year-olds picking up the game today doesn't move the housing market tomorrow. But it matters for a slower, more durable reason: it strengthens the long-term demand base for exactly the kind of lifestyle Santaluz offers. Golf course communities have historically skewed toward retirees and older buyers. A larger, more diverse junior pipeline — with meaningfully more girls and more first-generation golf families — points toward a broader, younger buyer base entering these communities over the next several decades, not just a wave of new retirees.

It also lines up with something already happening at the top of the market: golf-anchored communities are being valued increasingly as full lifestyle destinations rather than single-amenity clubs. The communities performing best right now are the ones — like Santaluz — that pair the golf course with tennis, pickleball, a fitness center, spa, pool, and dining, rather than golf access alone. That "complete package" positioning is exactly where buyer preference is heading.

How Guard-Gated Golf Communities Are Performing Right Now

It's a genuinely strong moment for this segment of real estate. Across major western luxury golf markets — including Scottsdale, the Nevada desert, and inland San Diego County — homes in gated, premier, private golf communities are appreciating at rates above comparable non-golf luxury properties.

A few regional data points worth knowing:

• Las Vegas/Nevada: Luxury guard-gated communities have appreciated roughly 15–20% over the past two years, fueled heavily by relocation from high-tax states and Nevada's zero state income tax.
• Scottsdale: Gated golf communities are showing steady, strong appreciation in the premium tier, with tight inventory and transactions closing near list price.
• San Diego County: Inland golf-anchored gated communities continue to offer more accessible luxury pricing relative to the coast, while coastal gated properties post the county's strongest appreciation given extremely limited supply.
• Lake Tahoe/Truckee: Structurally limited supply and consistent out-of-state buyer demand are keeping prices firm even as broader luxury markets show signs of cooling.

A common thread ties all of these markets together: inventory is tight almost everywhere. Guard-gated golf communities have fixed boundaries — there's no meaningful way to add supply once a community is built out. That scarcity, combined with sustained buyer demand from both retirees and now a widening base of younger, family-stage buyers, is a big part of why this category continues to outperform the broader luxury market even as overall home sales cool in many parts of the country.

The Bigger Picture

None of this means golf real estate is immune to broader market cycles — days on market have crept up in several markets over the past year, and buyers are more price-disciplined than they were during the pandemic-era frenzy. But the fundamentals underneath communities like Santaluz remain sound: a growing and increasingly diverse pipeline of new golfers, a real estate category that continues to outperform comparable luxury properties, and a supply picture that isn't changing anytime soon.

For current owners, it's a reassuring backdrop. For anyone weighing whether now is the moment to buy into a community like this, the data suggests the demand story is only getting broader — not narrower — as the years go on.

Sources: National Golf Foundation (NGF) 2026 Participation Report; R&A Global Participation Report 2025; GolfN Consumer Demographics & Spending Data 2026; Nevada Real Estate Group Market Analysis 2026; Club Estates Luxury Golf Market Report 2026; regional San Diego and Lake Tahoe market reports, 2026.