The toughest course in the Omaha, NE-IA metro area is Shadow Ridge Country Club, at slope 139 — ahead of Champions Run at slope 138 and Omaha Country Club at slope 136.
All 23 courses in the area with a USGA slope rating for its men’s tees are ranked below, along with 5 more lists: hardest from the tips, longest, widest tee spread, oldest, highest above sea level.
Omaha, NE-IA is a metro area as the U.S. Office of Management and Budget delineates it, crossing Iowa and Nebraska — the boundary is theirs, not ours. Each list counts only the courses in the area that publish that figure, so the totals differ between them. Slope and course rating measure difficulty, not quality — nothing here ranks how good a course is.
Toughest test
— all 23 courses with a USGA slope rating for its men’s tees
| # | Course | State | Toughest test |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shadow Ridge Country Club | NE | slope 139 |
| 2 | Champions Run | NE | slope 138 |
| 3 | Omaha Country Club | NE | slope 136 |
| 4 | Happy Hollow Club | NE | slope 133 |
| 5 | Willow Lakes Golf Course | NE | slope 132 |
| 5 | Woodland Hills Golf Course | NE | slope 132 |
| 7 | Bent Tree Golf Club | IA | slope 130 |
| 7 | Eagle Hills Academy Golf Course | NE | slope 130 |
| 7 | Eagle Hills Golf Course | NE | slope 130 |
| 10 | Iron Horse Golf Club | NE | slope 128 |
| 11 | Johnny Goodman Golf Course | NE | slope 124 |
| 12 | Benson Park Golf Course | NE | slope 123 |
| 12 | Dodge Riverside Golf Club | IA | slope 123 |
| 12 | Sunset Valley Country Club | NE | slope 123 |
| 15 | Tregaron Golf Course | NE | slope 122 |
| 16 | Ashland Golf Club | NE | slope 121 |
| 16 | Avoca Golf Club | IA | slope 121 |
| 18 | Miracle Hill Golf Course | NE | slope 119 |
| 19 | Fox Run Golf Club | IA | slope 117 |
| 20 | Quail Run Golf Course | IA | slope 113 |
| 21 | Glenwood Golf Course | IA | slope 106 |
| 22 | Elmwood Park Golf Course | NE | slope 102 |
| 23 | Milts Golf Center | NE | slope 80 |
The highest USGA slope rating published for any of the men’s tee sets. Slope rates difficulty for a bogey golfer relative to a scratch golfer — a rated figure issued by the golf association, not an opinion about the course. Men’s ratings only, because a tee is rated separately for men and for women and the two scales do not compare; a course rated only for women is not in the running rather than converted.
Hardest from the tips
— all 19 courses with a USGA course rating for its men’s tees
| # | Course | State | Hardest from the tips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Champions Run | NE | rating 75.9 |
| 2 | Omaha Country Club | NE | rating 74.6 |
| 3 | Bent Tree Golf Club | IA | rating 74.4 |
| 4 | Happy Hollow Club | NE | rating 74.1 |
| 5 | Willow Lakes Golf Course | NE | rating 73.5 |
| 6 | Johnny Goodman Golf Course | NE | rating 73.3 |
| 6 | Shadow Ridge Country Club | NE | rating 73.3 |
| 8 | Benson Park Golf Course | NE | rating 73.0 |
| 8 | Woodland Hills Golf Course | NE | rating 73.0 |
| 10 | Eagle Hills Academy Golf Course | NE | rating 71.4 |
| 10 | Eagle Hills Golf Course | NE | rating 71.4 |
| 10 | Iron Horse Golf Club | NE | rating 71.4 |
| 13 | Dodge Riverside Golf Club | IA | rating 71.1 |
| 14 | Tregaron Golf Course | NE | rating 70.9 |
| 15 | Miracle Hill Golf Course | NE | rating 70.7 |
| 16 | Ashland Golf Club | NE | rating 70.3 |
| 16 | Fox Run Golf Club | IA | rating 70.3 |
| 18 | Elmwood Park Golf Course | NE | rating 63.9 |
| 19 | Sunset Valley Country Club | NE | rating 34.0 |
The highest USGA course rating published for any of the men’s tee sets — the score a scratch golfer is expected to shoot. Men’s ratings only, for the same reason as slope: the men’s and women’s ratings of one tee are different measurements. It measures difficulty and nothing else; it is not a quality score and never orders these pages by how good a course is.
Longest
— the top 25 of 35 courses with a published scorecard
| # | Course | State | Longest |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Champions Run | NE | 7,209 yds |
| 2 | Shadow Ridge Country Club | NE | 7,063 yds |
| 3 | Bent Tree Golf Club | IA | 7,022 yds |
| 4 | Johnny Goodman Golf Course | NE | 6,928 yds |
| 5 | Willow Lakes Golf Course | NE | 6,850 yds |
| 6 | Happy Hollow Club | NE | 6,821 yds |
| 7 | Omaha Country Club | NE | 6,771 yds |
| 8 | The Pines Country Club | NE | 6,709 yds |
| 9 | Woodland Hills Golf Course | NE | 6,670 yds |
| 10 | Benson Park Golf Course | NE | 6,651 yds |
| 11 | Eagle Hills Academy Golf Course | NE | 6,515 yds |
| 11 | Eagle Hills Golf Course | NE | 6,515 yds |
| 13 | Tregaron Golf Course | NE | 6,508 yds |
| 14 | Iron Horse Golf Club | NE | 6,500 yds |
| 15 | Dodge Riverside Golf Club | IA | 6,474 yds |
| 16 | River Wilds Golf Club | NE | 6,438 yds |
| 17 | Miracle Hill Driving Range | NE | 6,431 yds |
| 17 | Miracle Hill Golf Course | NE | 6,431 yds |
| 19 | Council Bluffs Country Club | IA | 6,366 yds |
| 20 | Fox Run Golf Club | IA | 6,278 yds |
| 21 | Ashland Golf Club | NE | 6,242 yds |
| 22 | Pacific Springs Golf Course | NE | 5,979 yds |
| 23 | Field Club of Omaha (south) | NE | 5,199 yds |
| 24 | Elmwood Park Golf Course | NE | 5,003 yds |
| 25 | Tiburon Golf Course | NE | 3,422 yds |
The longest tee set the course publishes, in yards from the tips. Compared against every course that publishes a scorecard — length is a measurement, not a verdict on the golf.
Widest tee spread
— the top 25 of 34 courses with two or more tee sets of different lengths
| # | Course | State | Widest tee spread |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Champions Run | NE | 2,360 yds between tees |
| 2 | Tregaron Golf Course | NE | 2,091 yds between tees |
| 3 | Iron Horse Golf Club | NE | 2,089 yds between tees |
| 4 | Eagle Hills Academy Golf Course | NE | 1,900 yds between tees |
| 4 | Eagle Hills Golf Course | NE | 1,900 yds between tees |
| 6 | Shadow Ridge Country Club | NE | 1,887 yds between tees |
| 7 | Bent Tree Golf Club | IA | 1,870 yds between tees |
| 8 | Woodland Hills Golf Course | NE | 1,804 yds between tees |
| 9 | Omaha Country Club | NE | 1,687 yds between tees |
| 10 | Pacific Springs Golf Course | NE | 1,682 yds between tees |
| 11 | Happy Hollow Club | NE | 1,663 yds between tees |
| 12 | Willow Lakes Golf Course | NE | 1,564 yds between tees |
| 13 | The Pines Country Club | NE | 1,519 yds between tees |
| 14 | Ashland Golf Club | NE | 1,426 yds between tees |
| 15 | Benson Park Golf Course | NE | 1,400 yds between tees |
| 16 | Miracle Hill Driving Range | NE | 1,362 yds between tees |
| 16 | Miracle Hill Golf Course | NE | 1,362 yds between tees |
| 18 | River Wilds Golf Club | NE | 1,324 yds between tees |
| 19 | Fox Run Golf Club | IA | 1,310 yds between tees |
| 20 | Dodge Riverside Golf Club | IA | 1,242 yds between tees |
| 21 | Council Bluffs Country Club | IA | 1,226 yds between tees |
| 22 | Johnny Goodman Golf Course | NE | 902 yds between tees |
| 23 | Elmwood Park Golf Course | NE | 819 yds between tees |
| 23 | Tiburon Golf Course | NE | 819 yds between tees |
| 25 | Quail Run Golf Course | IA | 753 yds between tees |
Yards between the longest and shortest published tee sets — how far the course moves to fit a different player. Courses publishing a single tee set are not in the running, because one set is an unmeasured spread rather than a narrow one.
Oldest
— the top 25 of 28 courses with an opening year
The year the course opened, as published. Ranked oldest first. An opening year is not a design credit and not a renovation date — a course that opened in 1921 and was rebuilt in 1998 still opened in 1921.
Highest above sea level
— the top 25 of 38 courses with a coordinate we could sample
| # | Course | State | Highest above sea level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Woodland Hills Golf Course | NE | 1,684 ft |
| 2 | Bent Tree Golf Club | IA | 1,265 ft |
| 3 | Fontenelle Golf Course | IA | 1,224 ft |
| 4 | Avoca Golf Club | IA | 1,223 ft |
| 5 | Elkhorn Ridge Golf Course | NE | 1,220 ft |
| 6 | Shadow Ridge Country Club | NE | 1,208 ft |
| 7 | Field Club of Omaha (south) | NE | 1,205 ft |
| 8 | Omaha Country Club | NE | 1,185 ft |
| 9 | Golf at Indian Creek - Red Feather Course | NE | 1,184 ft |
| 10 | Johnny Goodman Golf Course | NE | 1,180 ft |
| 11 | Champions Run | NE | 1,177 ft |
| 12 | Pacific Springs Golf Course | NE | 1,171 ft |
| 13 | The Pines Country Club | NE | 1,148 ft |
| 14 | Treynor Recreation Area | IA | 1,146 ft |
| 15 | Benson Park Golf Course | NE | 1,143 ft |
| 16 | Tiburon Golf Course | NE | 1,131 ft |
| 17 | Westwood Golf Course | NE | 1,122 ft |
| 18 | Fox Run Golf Club | IA | 1,121 ft |
| 19 | Ashland Golf Club | NE | 1,112 ft |
| 20 | Iron Horse Golf Club | NE | 1,111 ft |
| 21 | Quail Run Golf Course | IA | 1,108 ft |
| 22 | Eagle Run Golf Course | NE | 1,103 ft |
| 23 | Happy Hollow Club | NE | 1,096 ft |
| 24 | Miracle Hill Driving Range | NE | 1,089 ft |
| 25 | Country Drive Golf Course | NE | 1,077 ft |
Height above sea level at the course’s own published coordinate, sampled from the USGS 3DEP elevation model. THIS IS A FIGURE WE DERIVED, not one the course publishes — anybody can re-query the same public dataset at the same coordinate and get the same number, but no scorecard states it. Because every course carries a coordinate, this is the only board here whose field is nearly the whole database rather than the courses that publish a particular figure. Elevation changes how far a ball carries; it says nothing about whether a course is good.