The Hardest (and Easiest) US States for Golf, Ranked by Slope

Which US states have the hardest golf on average? We averaged the USGA slope rating of every rated course in each state. The spread between hardest and easiest state is larger than you'd guess.

Methodology

For each US state, we averaged the slope rating across every rated tee set on every course in our database. States with fewer than 10 rated courses were excluded to reduce noise.

10 hardest states by average slope

#	State	Avg slope	Rated courses
1	New Jersey	126.8	263
2	Colorado	125.5	183
3	Texas	125.4	442
4	South Carolina	125.1	182
5	Virginia	124.9	207
6	Montana	124.6	59
7	Georgia	124.1	284
8	Illinois	124.0	442
9	Maryland	124.0	163
10	Michigan	123.7	490

5 easiest states by average slope

#	State	Avg slope	Rated courses
50	North Dakota	116.5	73
49	Mississippi	117.4	67
48	Iowa	118.2	196
47	Maine	118.2	104
46	Nebraska	118.4	117

Why New Jersey is the hardest

New Jersey averages a slope of 126.8 across 263 rated courses — the highest in the country. That's driven by a mix of championship venues and tough resort courses.

The easiest state, Nebraska, averages 118.4. A 8.4-point gap between hardest and easiest state means real differences in shot-making demands.

Browse the hardest, easiest, and longest courses in every state.