The Hardest States for Golf, Recalculated

Our old state ranking gave courses with more published tee boxes more influence. The recalculation fixes that: one comparable tee per open course record, one vote per course.

South Carolina rises to the top

South Carolina’s 175 qualifying course records average a 133.9 slope at tees averaging 6,434 yards. Virginia follows at 131.5, with North Carolina and Georgia both at 130.9. The displayed order uses course rating relative to par as the secondary sort when averages tie—not a claim that closely grouped states are meaningfully far apart.

The top group has a clear regional shape: seven of the first eight are in the Southeast or Mid-Atlantic. Michigan is the exception at No. 7, built from a 446-course sample. That scale makes its 129.4 average worth noticing; it is not being driven by a handful of destination courses.

Lower slope is not the same as easy golf

North Dakota sits at the other end with a 119.2 average slope across 61 qualifying courses. Nebraska is next at 121.3. Those are still above the 113 benchmark often used to describe a course of standard relative difficulty. “Lowest in this comparison” should not be read as “easy for everyone.”

Yardage also matters when reading the bottom group. Maine’s selected tees average 6,167 yards, while New Mexico’s average 6,454. Choosing the nearest available tee to a common target reduces—but cannot eliminate—differences in what courses publish.