Star/Tamaya at Santa Ana Golf Club

Santa Ana Golf Club sits on the ancestral lands of the Tamaya people within Santa Ana Pueblo, approximately twenty miles north of Albuquerque along the Rio Grande. Ken Killian designed the 27-hole facility, which opened in the late 1990s as part of the pueblo's economic development initiatives. The property occupies terrain where high desert meets cottonwood bosque, with the Sandia Mountains forming a dramatic eastern backdrop and views extending west toward dormant volcanic formations.

The Star and Tamaya nines combine with a third nine (Cheena) to create multiple 18-hole configurations. The routing moves through distinct ecosystems: some holes play across open desert scrubland dotted with cholla and chamisa, while others descend into the Rio Grande corridor where mature cottonwoods provide shade and frame narrower playing corridors. Elevation changes are moderate but meaningful, and the design incorporates arroyos and natural washes as both strategic hazards and visual elements characteristic of New Mexico golf.

The course operates as a public facility managed by the pueblo, making it accessible to visitors while serving as an amenity for the adjacent Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort. The setting offers a distinctly New Mexican golf experience, with high desert conditions, wide temperature swings between seasons, and the kind of expansive sky and landform views typical of the middle Rio Grande valley. The design respects the landscape's natural character while providing playable golf across varied skill levels.