Santa Ana Golf Club

Santa Ana Golf Club's Tamaya and Cheena courses occupy land within Santa Ana Pueblo, a Native American community located along the Rio Grande northwest of Albuquerque. Ken Killian designed both eighteen-hole layouts, which opened in the mid-1990s as part of a resort development on pueblo land. The courses sit in high desert terrain at roughly 5,000 feet elevation, where the landscape transitions between cottonwood-lined river bottomlands and arid mesa country characteristic of New Mexico's middle Rio Grande valley. The Tamaya course plays through terrain closer to the river corridor, incorporating mature cottonwoods and native grasses into a routing that follows the natural contours of arroyos and sandy washes. The Cheena course occupies higher ground with more pronounced elevation changes and wider views toward the Sandia Mountains to the east. Both layouts reflect Killian's approach to working with native desert vegetation and existing landforms rather than imposing heavily manufactured features on the property. The courses serve resort guests and outside daily-fee play, functioning as part of the pueblo's economic development initiatives. The setting provides a contrast to traditional parkland golf, with playing corridors defined by scrub vegetation, volcanic rock outcroppings, and the spare aesthetic of high desert landscapes. Water management and turf maintenance in this arid climate shape the conditioning and playability throughout the year, with cooler temperatures and stronger winds common during spring and fall months.