Today was my second round of golf at Black Mesa Golf Club. I first played here in 2021 and today’s visit was with another friend, which allowed him to add New Mexico to the list of states where he has golfed. And, Black Mesa was just as good – and memorable – as it was about three years ago. I haven’t changed much from my first review, but wanted to bump the post towards the top of my page and include fresh pictures.
Black Mesa opened in 2003 – it was designed by Baxter Spann – and spent many years as one of the top public courses in New Mexico, even making it onto some national lists. Sadly, the maintenance fell off, the course lost its luster, and it changed ownership shortly before COVID, I believe. Thankfully, from what I’ve seen the conditioning at Black Mesa is “back”, thanks to the work by the new owners. That is awesome because the course is one of the most unique and interesting places I’ve played.
What makes Black Mesa so unique is how it is carved into the barren high desert landscape, which is dotted with small mesas everywhere. It is one of those golf courses where almost every hole could be a signature hole. The course winds through the fascinating topography and reminded me of the layouts at Wolf Creek or Cascata in Nevada, where holes are lined by small canyon walls. The tees, fairways, and greens here seem to have just been dropped onto the land. Because of that it can be tough to pick lines unless you know where the hole goes.
We played the blue tees (70.5/136/6719) and at 5,600 feet above sea level, the ball goes a long way so keep that in mind when choosing tees. No matter which tees you choose though, Black Mesa is going to be a difficult course to play. Besides all the blind shots, many fairways are narrow and the desert is waiting to grab wayward shots. Then, the green complexes have brutal slopes. Mounds, bowls, tiers, ridges, wild shapes – whatever you can dream up, the greens have it.
My favorite hole on the front nine is the 174 yard 4th, which is one of the four solid par-3’s at Black Mesa. The 4th has a green that is cut into a hillside. There are bunkers short and left, desert to the right, and parts of the green slopes off. Oh, and there are two tiers.
The back nine has a great par-3 too, the 15th which is 195 yards. That green has a hillside to the left and everything slopes severely to the right. My tee shot hit left of the green and kicked from up by the cart path all the way to the right edge of the green. After the 15th is the par-5 16th, which is probably the wackiest hole at Black Mesa. It is an uphill par-5 where it looks like you are golfing on Mars. The fairway is narrow and rises sharply up to the green. From 100 yards out in the fairway you cannot see any of the green because of the uphill climb.
The conditioning was great and well worth the $80-$100 green fee. The tees, fairways and greens were lush and full. The greens rolled smooth and at a medium pace. With all the slope in the greens I’m not sure anything faster than a medium pace would work.
Black Mesa is one of the most dramatic, scenic and crazy courses I’ve ever played. It felt like something Mike Strantz or Jim Engh would have designed, so I can see it being one of those ‘love it or hate it’ layouts. Personally, I loved it because it is so unique. I’d highly recommend checking out Black Mesa and would put the course somewhere among my top 25 personal favorites.
Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):