24/7 Wall St.

The Trump International Golf Club is home to one of the hardest course in the U.S. From the back tees, it has a “slope” (a rating of difficulty based on a bogey level golfer) of 155 which is the highest rating a course can receive.

According to the USGA’s description of slope:

A “Slope Rating” is the USGA’s mark that indicates the measurement of the relative difficulty of a course for players who are not scratch golfers compared to the USGA Course Rating (e.g., compared to the difficulty of a course for scratch golfers). A Slope Rating is computed from the difference between the Bogey Rating and the USGA Course Rating. The lowest Slope Rating is 55 and the highest is 155. A golf course of standard playing difficulty has a Slope Rating of 113.

The Trump course’s 155 slope rating is based on playing the course from the back tees, which stretches the course to 7,326 yards. It is a par 72 course.  The course was built in 1999 and created by famous designer Jim Fazio.

At 155, it is among the 100 or so most difficult course in the U.S. Among the famous course with similar slopes–the Ocean Course along the coast of South Carolina, the public Black Course at Bethpage on Long Island, Pine Valley Golf Club in Pine Valley, NJ which is often called the hardest course in the U.S., the ancient Winged Foot West Course about 30 miles north of New York City, the home course to the PGA known as the TPC at Sawgrass, located in Ponte Vedra, FL, Spyglass in Pebble Beach, CA, Pinehurst in North Carolina, Medinah in Illinois, and the course at Yale University.

Trump has a low handicap. He needs one to play his own course.