I arrived in Santa Fe, NM on Tuesday afternoon from the Grand Canyon. The drive was about 7 hours and I think I'm getting used to these longer drives now. I had booked a room at the Hilton Buffalo Thunder Resort for 2 night so I can have quick access to Black Mesa Golf Course on Wednesday. Plus, there was a casino attached to the hotel so BONUS!
The casino has weekly poker tournaments on Tuesday for a $40 buy in. I just couldn't resist since I do like to play occasionally. I'd rather play in tournaments because it kinda limits how much money you can lose :) There were 4 tables total with blinds doubling every 15 minutes. I caught a few lucky hands and made it to the final table. Unfortunately, only the top 7 players win money and I came in 9th place. Damn pocket 2's and hitting your 3rd 2 on the turn.
After my loss I went to the bar and met some of the guys from the poker tournament. They were nice enough to invite me to join their group for dinner. Scott works for Los Alamos National Laboratory and he there with his consultants Tom, Vinita, and Norbert for their Oracle project. It was funny to see the playful banter the group displayed and I could tell they have a great relationship inside and outside of work. After dinner, we chatted a bit, traded business cards so they can follow the blog. It's always fun to meet new and interesting people on the trip. You never know what friendships with unfold in the future.
Since the mornings are 37 degrees I elected to play in the afternoon. Plus, the rates are much cheaper. Here is my review of Black Mesa Golf Club
Black Mesa Golf Club - Santa Fe, NM
Yards: 6719, Par: 72, Slope: 70.5/136
Score: 86, Putting Average: 1.83
I've been looking forward to this round since I started planning for this trip. Back in November last year Golf Digest came out with the Top 100 Public Course to play and Black Mesa was ranked number 86. I looked at the site and was excited looking at the beautiful pictures of the course. What I experienced was both excitement mixed with lots of disappointments on the course.
I can tell Black Mesa put a lot of effort in constructing this golf course. However, I think they forgot to finish the course. Either that, or they are making it really hard to have a pleasant golf experience. Some of the hole are absolutely ridiculous with blind tee shot over a huge hills with no sight of the landing zone. The ball disappears after it crosses the top to the hill and you have no idea where it is and whether you had hit a draw or a fade. The condition of the course was horridness with dried out yellow grass everywhere, wild flowers in the fairway, dried out bunkers, and patches of patched up grass everywhere. Once you get to the greens, there are bumps everywhere and the ball hops around when you putt. It's like putting in the pot hole riddled streets of San Francisco. The cart path was not paved and consist of rock and sand. At some of the uphill and downhill areas, it was just plain dangerous to ride in the cart. There were several times where I was going downhill and the cart would fishtailing out of control. I could have very easily lost control, gone over the cliff, and flipped my golf cart. The course does have a lot of potential if it was well maintained. Perhaps it was the time of year I was there, but the course was in pretty bad shape and definitely does not belong as one of the top 100 public course in the US.
Now the the exciting part! I shot my personal best of 86 today. The front nine was about average with a 47 but something clicked in the back nine and I shot a 39!! I have never shot a sub-40 nine before and it was pretty exciting coming down to the last hole. Hopefully I can carry this to my round tomorrow. I'm playing another top 100 course called Paa-Ko Ridge. If I can stay consistent, I think my friends (Chris and Brad) are gonna be in for a surprise when I play with them next week. BTW - Do I still get strokes from you guys? :)
Here are the pics. Enjoy!
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| First Tee |
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