Golf is a game of patience and depending on the course you play on, it may require more tolerance.
A study of United States Golf Association of more than 14,000 golf courses across America, revealed the average difficulty of courses in each state.
According to the association’s methodology, the average “bogey rating” was calculated for all courses in each state, with states ranked from highest to lowest difficulty based on this rating.
The bogey index indicates the difficulty of the course for a player with a handicap of approximately 20 for men or 24 for women, making it a good measure for amateur and amateur golfers. Additionally, the “average course rating” for each state was calculated, which measures the difficulty of a scratch player – an elite-level golfer with a handicap of zero, a status achieved by less than 1% of golfers.
Golfweek’s Best: Montana’s best public and private courses
States with the toughest golf courses in the country
|
Rank |
State |
Average Bogey rating |
Average course rating |
|
1 |
Montana |
97.42 |
70.68 |
|
2 |
Hawaii |
96.35 |
70.65 |
|
3 |
Texas |
96.22 |
70.36 |
|
4 |
New Jersey |
95.82 |
69.73 |
|
5 |
Utah |
95.14 |
69.28 |
|
6 |
Illinois |
94.85 |
69.53 |
|
7 |
Washington |
94.76 |
69.33 |
|
8 |
California |
94.74 |
69.33 |
|
9 |
Nevada |
94.59 |
68.95 |
|
10 |
Louisiana |
94.45 |
69.67 |
|
11 |
Arkansas |
94.22 |
69.25 |
|
12 |
Pennsylvania |
94.17 |
68.85 |
|
13 |
North Carolina |
93.97 |
68.63 |
|
14 |
Michigan |
93.88 |
68.59 |
|
15 |
South Dakota |
93.85 |
69.23 |
|
16 |
New Mexico |
93.85 |
68.77 |
|
17 |
South Carolina |
93.84 |
68.54 |
|
18 |
Maryland |
93.74 |
68.78 |
|
19 |
Georgia |
93.58 |
68.43 |
|
20 |
Indiana |
93.57 |
68.98 |
|
21 |
Tennessee |
93.42 |
68.89 |
|
21 |
Wyoming |
93.36 |
68.52 |
|
23 |
Nebraska |
93.27 |
69.20 |
|
24 |
Colorado |
93.19 |
67.68 |
|
25 |
Oklahoma |
93.15 |
68.72 |
|
26 |
Massachusetts |
93.15 |
68.24 |
|
27 |
Arizona |
93.12 |
68.40 |
|
28 |
Iowa |
93.10 |
68.95 |
|
29 |
Deleware |
93.08 |
68.01 |
|
30 |
Oregon |
93.01 |
68.04 |
|
31 |
Virginia |
92.93 |
67.72 |
|
32 |
Vermont |
92.90 |
67.85 |
|
33 |
New Hampshire |
92.88 |
68.19 |
|
34 |
Alabama |
92.70 |
68.27 |
|
35 |
Kansas |
92.67 |
68.14 |
|
36 |
Florida |
92.67 |
67.86 |
|
37 |
Alaska |
92.67 |
68.32 |
|
38 |
Kentucky |
92.60 |
67.76 |
|
39 |
new York |
92.59 |
67.96 |
|
40 |
Minnesota |
92h30 |
67.51 |
|
41 |
North Dakota |
92.24 |
68.55 |
|
42 |
West Virginia |
91.75 |
68.15 |
|
43 |
Ohio |
91.23 |
67.13 |
|
44 |
Connecticut |
91.06 |
66.70 |
|
45 |
Idaho |
90.97 |
66.61 |
|
46 |
Missouri |
89.97 |
66.61 |
|
47 |
Rhode Island |
89.85 |
66.18 |
|
48 |
Wisconsin |
89.80 |
66.14 |
|
49 |
Maine |
89.71 |
66.18 |
|
50 |
Mississippi |
89.24 |
66.09 |
This article was originally published on Golfweek: Which state has the most difficult bogeys and courses rankings? USGA revealed unlikely leader
