Hardest Public Golf Courses in Pennsylvania

The hardest public golf course in Pennsylvania is Olde Stonewall in North Sewickley Township, with a slope of 149 and a course rating of 74.3 from the Grey tees (7,103 yards). It is a public course, open to all golfers. Next are Skytop Mountain Golf Club (slope 147) and Whispering Woods Golf Club (slope 145).

5 hardest public courses in Pennsylvania, by slope

Every course here has had its public access checked against a named source.

Rank	Course	City	Access	Slope	Course rating	Tee	Yards	Access checked
1	Olde Stonewall	North Sewickley Township	Public	149	74.3	Grey	7,103	Nov 2026 source
2	Skytop Mountain Golf Club	Port Matilda	Semi-private	147	75.1	Black	6,973	Nov 2026 source
3	Whispering Woods Golf Club	Erie	Public	145	74.0	Black	6,804	Nov 2026 source
4	Pleasant Valley Golf Club	Connellsville	Public	145	74.0	Gold	6,658	Nov 2026 source
5	Links at Gettysburg	Gettysburg	Public	144	74.1	Gold	6,979	Nov 2026 source

How this list is built

Each course is ranked by the highest slope rating from its men's tees. Women's ratings are used only where a course publishes no men's rating. Only regulation 18-hole courses are included; nine-hole courses are left out.

Only courses whose public access Stymie has checked against the club's own site or another named source are listed, and private clubs are left out. That is why this list differs from the hardest golf courses in Pennsylvania, which ranks every rated course.

Courses are checked in order from the highest slope down, and the list stops at the first course whose public access has not been checked yet, so nothing here skips over an unchecked course. Courses that were checked and could not be confirmed as open to the public are left out. 391 golf courses in Pennsylvania have a slope rating on file, and Stymie has checked access for 34 of them so far.

Semi-private courses limit public tee times. Call ahead before you plan a round.

Pennsylvania public course FAQ

What is the hardest public golf course in Pennsylvania?

Of the Pennsylvania courses Stymie has checked for public access, Olde Stonewall in North Sewickley Township has the highest slope rating: 149 from the Grey tees, with a course rating of 74.3. Skytop Mountain Golf Club is next at 147. Courses are checked from the highest slope down, so no unchecked course ranks above the ones listed.

Can anyone play Olde Stonewall?

Yes. Olde Stonewall is a public course, open to all golfers. Stymie checked its access in Nov 2026 against oldestonewall.com. Tee-time policies change, so confirm with the course before you go.

How is difficulty measured?

By slope rating, which measures how much harder a course plays for a bogey golfer than for a scratch golfer. It runs from 55 to 155, and 113 is standard difficulty. Each course is ranked by the highest slope from its men's tees, and only regulation 18-hole courses are included. Course rating, the score a scratch golfer is expected to shoot, is shown alongside.

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