Taos - New Mexico - USA

Taos has long enjoyed a deserved reputation as the getaway spot for writers, musicians, and artists of all types. The golf side came much later and when Taos CC opened in 1994 it provided a regulation 18-hole effort.

The course is good but the extra added dimensions that would have really helped are just not present. The land was not doctored to produce a layout in conflict with its terrain but the reverse happened where less done means less accomplished.

From the back tees the course is listed at 7,300 yards but when you factor into the mixture the elevation - over a mile high -- the net yardage is considerably less.

For true connoisseurs the time spent playing here will be a head scratching moment. The big expanse of property could have injected a whole series of creative elements with various land movements and adroit placing of bunkers with green complexes that truly provide a varied manner.

Taos will fill one's golf appetite for the immediate need to include golf when in this part of the USA. But, it's equally true that unlike the stature of the writers and artists who have come to Taos for meaningful inspiration the golf side of the equation will leave wishing more could have been accomplished.

M. James Ward