Paa-Ko Ridge (1st & 2nd)

The 27-hole Paa-Ko Ridge Golf Club is set under the watchful guard of the Sandia Mountains. With three loops of nine holes, there are numerous playing configurations especially when you factor in five different sets of tees on each hole. Choose your tee carefully as this monster stretches out beyond 7,500 yards from the tips.

Holes are routed around arroyos, rocky outcrops and a variety of native vegetation with fairways laid out in quite wooded surroundings at elevations between 6,500 and 7,000 feet above sea level. The original 18-hole course opened in 2000 with the additional nine added five years later.

One of the most difficult holes on the property is the par three 4th – appropriately named “Dye-abolical,” – where the tee shot plays across an arroyo to what's reckoned to be the largest putting surface in the state of New Mexico. As this triple-tiered green measures 100 yards from back to front with a drop of 13 feet in between, pin placement is all important in the quest to secure a score of three or better at this hole.

Designed by the Finger Dye Spann firm of architects, Paa-Ko – meaning the root of the cottonwood tree in ancient Pueblo – is undoubtedly New Mexico’s finest course and it’s hard to know which two of the three loops of nine make the better course, so we suggest you play all 27 dramatic holes. We doubt you’ll get better value for money within a 500-mile radius.