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Twin Warriors Golf Club and Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa
Just a 35 minute drive from the Albuquerque airport to our first destination: our hotel and our first round of golf in New Mexico. Registering at the Resort, dropping off our luggage at the Bell station since we arrived early, and heading to the golf course went smoothly.
There is great coordination between the Resort and The Twin Warriors Golf Club with a shuttle from the front door of the Resort to the bag drop at the golf course. If you do have time to spare waiting for the shuttle, there is a great Native American collection of art, jewelry and more in the Tamaya Cultural Museum adjacent to the plaza.
Twin Warriors Golf Club
We stopped by the Atush Bar & Grille to fuel up for our afternoon of golf. We munched on our Boagie Burger (a half pounder with cheese and green chile of course) and Fairway Roll (a southwestern grilled chicken wrap) while we absorbed the magnificent scenery.
Twin Warriors was our first introduction to the "high desert" at an elevation of nearly 5000 feet, meaning the temperatures were not the "Arizona" highs that we had expected.
This championship course is designed in and around 20 ancient cultural sites with Juniper and Pinon Pine along its rolling knolls and ridges, and dry washes known as arroyos. Looking at each hole, each forward tee seems to be a reasonable length for women. But don't be fooled, there's plenty of challenge to keep you on your game from tee to green.
At Hole #4, the signature par three hole, there's a large lake and series of ponds and waterfalls. I laid up, landing as close to the waterfalls as possible, before hitting my next shot to the green. I came away with as good a score as the guys who went for it, but they then rolled down the slanted green.
I was right at home whether I landed in the fairway or ventured off in the rough, where the "Bluegrass" hybrid and fescue awaited my golf ball.
This was the first time I have not been afraid of a Snake or a volcano. The "Snakehead" shaped sacred butte is a spectacular backdrop to the golf course, and the lava flows of the now dormant volcano created beautiful pons and lakes.
Several amateur and professional golf tournaments have been held at Twin Warriors, including the 2003 U.S. Women's Trans National Golf Championship.
If you like to get all the tips you can before playing a course, take time to see Sandy Lemon, Director of Instruction. Being both a PGA and LPGA Professional, and a 24-year veteran of the golf industry, Lemon can help men and women alike with their game.
The objective of Twin Warriors Golf Club is to provide every guest with a "world-class" golf experience. We ended up being "high on golf" at this wonderful course.
There's so much more to say about Twin Warriors Golf Club, ranked 49th by Golf Digest in "American's 100 Greatest Public Courses" in 2005-06. Including, there is an "awarding winning" sister course, the Santa Ana Golf Club, which is named to Golf for Women's "Top 50 Golf Courses for Women." Santa Ana is a daily fee course, where you can pay one green fee and play all day. Ladies, you'll like this bargain.
Whether you are a double-bogey golfer (at least that) like me, or low handicap, you will enjoy playing Twin Warriors Golf Club.
You'll want to find out more from their website: Hole by Hole Tour
Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa
Our schedule brought us to the Santa Ana Café for breakfast. I select a smoked salmon on a bagel at every chance I get so I had to be "Miss Piggy" to enjoy my favorite along with a ham and cheese omelet. It was difficult to turn down the scrumptious breakfast buffet including the Chef's specialty stations, but I thought that would be a little too much. However, my husband, Dave, enjoyed these mouth-watering breakfast delights.
We had hoped to be able to have a fine dining experience at The Corn Maiden restaurant and watch the Chef grill his specialties on their Signature Rotisserie while watching the Sandia Mountains during sunset. But we will put that on our schedule for our next visit.
Rio Grande Lounge is a "Grand" lounge appointed with luxurious wood and leather furnishing inside or enjoy the outdoors overlooking the Bosque and Sandia Mountains amidst a comfortable setting with Kiva fireplaces.
Whatever your day, you will be comfortable in the Pueblo style spacious rooms, elegantly appointed in a southwestern flair and each with its private balcony or patio. From the comforts of home with your own coffeepot to WI-FI connections to keep in touch globally, you will find amenities galore.
You can blaze your own trail with horse rides to Pueblo backcountry, try your own brand of golf at Twin Warriors Golf Club, enjoy the breathtaking view beside the pool, or sit back and relax at the Tamaya Mist Salon. When the wind is right, you might see a hot air balloon landing in your backyard.
Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa, 1300 Tuyuna Trail, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87004, USA Tel: (505) 867 1234
New Mexico Contacts
Related Articles:
New Mexico Golf & Travel: Red or Green
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Knowing that your clubs are in their proper place on the cart, and everything you need is at your finger tips (scorecard, ball markers to yardage books on the cart), you can not help but notice the wide array of choices in the pro shop. For women as well as men, there are beautiful apparel lines from head to toe to select from, including your basic balls and gloves.
Located on the Santa Ana Pueblo half-way between Santa Fe and Albuquerque there's land, lots of land, with a view of the Bosque cottonwood forest, the Rio Grande, and the Sandia Mountains. The resort, one of the largest ever developed on Native-American land, occupies 500 acres. Before you leave, you will have learned the history of the Santa Ana Pueblo from a scale model of the Tamaya Pueblo, Santa Ana's old village, in the lobby of the Café, and new words describing southwestern structures, such as Vigas, (rounded logs ceiling beams); and Lattilas (smaller pieces that connect the Vigas).
The Santa Ana Café has about any amenity, menu for any appetite from morning to night, local southwestern specialties or traditional restaurant foods, entrees or extensive selections from a buffet, a comfortable inside dining room or outside on the patio.
