Paa--Ko Rid
dge: New
N Me
exico's
s Best Layou
ut is
Spirritual Among
A
Anasa
azi
By David
d R. Holland, Senior Writerr
SANDIA PARK, NM - Paa-Ko Ridg
ge could be th
he best new
golf courrse opened in the 21st century.
One by one
o travel golfers are coming here to pa
ay pilgrimage
among ancient
a
Anasa
azi ruins, belo
ow azure skies
s, from atop
rocky-ridge mesas line
ed with scrub
b oak, piñon pines,
p
prickly
pear, barrrel cacti and the occasional towering Ponderosa
P
pine.
And thes
se avid golfers
s are having a near-spiritual "wow"
experience on golf "ho
oly" land just off the beautiiful Turquoise
e
Trail of New
N
Mexico's winding High
hway 14.
Paa-Ko Ridge
R
is one of
o those few golf
g courses where
w
your se
enses come tto attention evvery time you
u
climb to each
e
subsequ
uent tee box. Everytime yo
ou see the ne
ext hole's uniq
que layout and
d the challeng
ge it
presents
s, you know th
his is something special.
Yep, Ken
n Dye's Paa-K
Ko Ridge is a classic in its infancy. Here
e's a predictio
on: When Gollf Magazine
comes out with its nex
xt Top 100 Yo
ou Can Play List,
L
this stunn
ning beauty in
n the eastern foothills of th
he
Sandia Mountains,
M
hig
gh above Albuquerque, will be in the To
op 20. If it isn''t, somebody goofed.
"Lots of people havve agreed witth me that Pa
aa-Ko Ridge h
has
an op
pening hole fo
ollowed by 17
7 signature ho
oles," said Wa
arren
Lehr, Director of G
Golf. "When on
ne Golf Digesst rater played
d
here he
h told me he
e liked it bette
er than Cypress Point. I
couldn't believe it. I laughed outt loud, and sa
aid 'I don't kno
ow
aboutt that', but I w
will say this - P
Paa-Ko Ridge
e is in my top five
and I''ve played ma
any of the gre
eat courses in
n the world."
Lehr's
s favorites? C
Cypress Pointt, The Old Course at St.
Andre
ews, Royal Do
ornoch, The O
Olympic Club
b and Prairie
Dunes in Hutchinsson, KS.
"For the
t dollar valu
ue I'd put Paa
a-Ko against a
any of those,""
Lehr said
d. "The par-3 No. 4, with its
s 100-yard long, four-tiered
d green is unlike any I've sseen. It's just one
'wow' experience after another, building like a crrescendo, the
en you reach the high poin
nt at No. 17, a
and
it's just one
o of the worrld-class vista
as in golf."
Playing at
a almost 6,50
00 feet in elev
vation, the 7,5
562-yard long
g
par 72 do
oesn't play too long for the
e solid low-handicapper.
The startter will recommend 5-9 handicapper pla
ay from the te
ee
one up frrom the back and the 10-19 player from
m two up.
There arre five sets of tees, rolling, generous blu
uegrass
fairways and multi-tierred bentgrass
s greens.
And the best news is that nine morre holes are under
u
construction and rightt now very few
w houses are under
construction, meaning
g there's peac
ce and quiet with
w this naturre walk.
So what about that No
o. 4? Called Dye-Abolical,
D
this hole mea
asures only 183 yards from
m the back, "b
but if
we put th
he pin in the rear
r
on the 10
00-yard long green
g
it can p
play more like
e 288," said Le
ehr. There's 1
13
feet of elevation rise to the green, also
a
with a ra
avine carry.
The cres
scendo builds at No. 15, Tu
urquoise Traill, a 640-yard dogleg-right p
par-5 that dro
ops 100 feet ffrom
tee to gre
een. A run-up
p shot is poss
sible, but don'tt go long bec ause there's w
water in backk.
No. 16, Agua
A
Caliente
e, is a 228-yard par-3 with lots of water short and leftt. There's plen
nty of bail-outt
short and
d right, but the
e green is huge and has trricky tiers and
d is split by a hollow.
The panorama
p
of tthe broad Esttancia Valley and surround
ding
moun
ntains make yyou stop and p
ponder at the
e par-4 17th, 4
419
yards
s. Don't miss cclimbing to the back tees just for the vie
ew
and photos.
p
Then aim straight a
ahead and be
etween the tw
wo
Ponderosa pines.
Trails
s End, the 474
4-yard par-4 ffinale presentts lots of room
m
right, but longer hittters will wantt to nail one le
eft of the fairw
way
bunke
ers. The apprroach requiress a ravine carrry to a large
green
n that has a ri dge separatin
ng the back le
eft side from tthe
rear.
Houstton-based de
esigner Dye, w
who also carvved out legend
dary
Piñon Hills in Farming
gton, NM, said
d he was prou
ud he didn't d
disturb much o
of the land, ke
eeping most o
of its
natural ru
ugged feature
es.
When yo
ou play Paa-K
Ko Ridge you will appreciatte the rugged landscape and start dream
ming of the next
time you can play this
s world-class winner.
w
The Land's
L
History
H
There arre Anasazi ruins nearby wh
here, from the
e 14th to 17th
h centuries, Pa
aa-Ko, was a word that me
eant
"root of the cottonwoo
od tree". An archaeologicall site was exccavated in the
e 1930's and m
multi-room
dwellings
s, kivas, corra
als and a wea
alth of artifacts
s were discovvered. These findings are n
now owned a
and
preserve
ed by the Univ
versity of New
w Mexico.
"When I'm out there on
o the golf cou
urse," Lehr sa
aid. "Many tim
mes I think of how special tthis place is a
and
was whe
en the ancientt Indians had the run of the
e landscape.""
Paa-K
Ko Ridge
e Golf Club
C
1 Clubho
ouse Drive
Sandia Peak,
P
NM 870
047
Phone: 505-281-6000
5
0
Toll-free
e: 1-866-898-5
5987
Web: ww
ww.paakoridge.com.
Green Fees: Weekda
ays $34, Wee
ekends $45, in
ncludes range
e balls. GPS C
Carts $17 exttra. Please ca
all for
special senior
s
and jun
nior rates.
Directions: Twenty minutes
m
from Albuquerque,
A
Paa-Ko Ridg
ge is situated approximately nine miles
north of Interstate
I
40 and 3.5 miles
s north of the Sandia Crestt turn-off on N
North Highwayy 14. From Santa
Fe, a sce
enic 45-minuttes down the historic Turqu
uoise Trail on
n Highway 14 South, will brring you to Pa
aaKo Ridge
e.
The Marshal
M
Speaks
After a fe
ew weeks working at Paa-K
Ko Ridge, ma
arshal Denniss Hein
went to his
h wife and daughter
d
and said: "Don't bother
b
buying me
any golf balls for Chris
stmas or my birthday.
b
I can
n find all I nee
ed for
the rest of
o my life right here. Hein said
s
the recorrd for lost golff balls
in one ro
ound was 25. "We found a bunch of emp
pty sleeve bo
oxes in
one golf cart and aske
ed the guy. He said 25."
Hein reca
alled this furry
y critter story: "A frantic go
olfer called the
e pro
shop on his cell phone
e and said the
ere's a bear on
o the fifth tee
e! What
do I do? The guy in th
he pro shop to
old him to let the
t bear playy
through.""
Awards:: Golf Digest's
s No. 1 Best New
N
Affordab
ble Course, 20
000.
Golf Mag
gazine's Top 10 New Courrses You Can Play, 2000.
2001 Golf Dig
gest New
w Mexico
o Rankin
ngs
1. Paa-K
Ko Ridge, San
ndia Park.
2. Las Ca
ampañas (Su
unrise), Santa
a Fe.
3. Piñon Hills, Farmington.
4. U. of New
N
Mexico, Albuquerque
A
.
5. Pueblo
o de Cochiti, Cochiti Lake.
6. The Liinks at Sierra Blanca, Ruid
doso.
7. Santa Ana (Tamaya
a/Cheena), Bernalillo.
B
8. Inn of the Mountain
n Gods, Mesc
calero.
9. Isleta Eagle. (Lakes
s/Mesa), Isletta.
10. Taos
s C.C., Ranch
hos de Taos.
Wherre to Sta
ay
The San
ndhill Crane Bed
B & Break
kfast
389 Cam
mino Hermosa
a
Corrales, NM 87048
Phone: 505-898-2445
5
5 or 800-375--2445
E-mail: scranebb@fla
s
ash.net
Web: ww
ww.bbonline.c
com/nm/sandhill/index.htm
ml
Your hos
st, Margo Mac
cInnes, will welcome you to
o The Sandh ill Crane Bed & Breakfast where you wiill
find an adobe
a
haciend
da in rural Co
orrales, bordering the north
hwestern edge
e of Albuquerrque. The Rio
o
Grande Bosque
B
is jus
st minutes awa
ay and you ca
an relax on th
he porch and enjoy the coo
ol nights.
A complimentary brea
akfast served in the dining room or on th
he terrace inccludes the besst seasonal
produce available in the local mark
kets, premier blends of coff
ffee and teas, and freshly-b
baked breadss,
waffles or
o a hearty casserole.
Score
ecard
Overall Rating:
R
A
Condition
ns: ALayout: A+
A
Service: A
Practice Fac.: A
Clubhous
se/Pro Shop: A
Pace of Play:
P
B+
Value: A+
Scenery:: A
David
D
R. Hollland, Seniorr Writer
David R. Holland is an
n award-winn
ning former sp
portswriter forr The Dallas M
Morning Newss, football
magazine publisher, and
a author off The Colorado
o Golf Bible. B
Before launch
hing a careerr as a travel/g
golf
writer, he
e achieved the rank of Lieu
utenant Colon
nel in the Air F
Force reserve
e, serving durring the Vietnam
and Desert Storm era
as. Follow Dav
ve on Twitter here.
ght 1995-2010 WorldGolf.c
com
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