Los Alamos Golf Course

Española, NM · 15 mi away

Black Mesa in La Mesilla, New Mexico, opened in 2003 and was designed by Baxter Spann. It sits on land of the Santa Clara Pueblo north of Santa Fe, in badlands terrain of ridges, arroyos and black volcanic rock. The routing works with the natural folds instead of flattening them. Fairways tumble between ridgelines, blind and semi-blind shots appear throughout the round, and the greens sit in natural hollows and shelves. At about 6,500 feet the ball carries, which helps on the longer holes. It is open to public play, priced well below comparable desert resort golf, and remains one of the more unusual pieces of ground in the state.

Pojoaque, NM · 15 mi away

Towa Golf Resort is a 27-hole championship course north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Hale Irwin designed the course, which opened in 1999. It has three nine-hole layouts: Boulder, Pinon, and Valley. The design uses arroyos, rock outcroppings, and views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Jemez Mountains, and Rio Grande Valley. Fairways are Kentucky bluegrass and ryegrass; greens and tees are bent grass.

Cochiti Lake, NM · 16 mi away

Cochiti Golf Club sits in the foothills of the Jemez Mountains at Cochiti Lake, New Mexico, on land belonging to the Cochiti Pueblo. The course occupies a high desert plateau between roughly 5,300 and 6,800 feet in elevation, with juniper-covered hills and wide mountain views. Robert Trent Jones Jr. designed the course, which opened in 1981, and he returned in 2000 to renovate tees, bunkers and the irrigation system. The layout works with canyons, waste areas and ponds rather than reshaping the natural terrain, producing narrow fairways and well-bunkered greens. The course is open to the public and plays to about 6,817 yards from the longest tees, with three water holes and bunkering on every hole adding to the challenge. Its remote setting and consistent desert wind are part of what makes the round distinctive.