Santa Fe, NM

Arroyo Chamisos DGC

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3.485(based on 24 reviews)
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9 0
C-Van
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 15.3 years 118 played 14 reviews
4.00 star(s)

drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 14, 2022 Played the course:once

Pros:

-Multiple tee boxes for each hole provide a great opportunity for different skill levels to enjoy the course.
-Very unique setting playing alongside an arroyo.
-Some really unique holes, including playing across a stone labyrinth structure and through a man-made tunnel of trees.
-Baskets are marked with a long rod on top which can help pinpoint them in the desert setting.
-This course has some of the most beautiful desert cactus I've ever seen in my life peppered throughout the fairways and by the tee pads.

Cons:

-Not a whole lot of shade throughout the course.
-Some tee boxes are shared with a rec path, so be wary of bikers/runners approaching while you are teeing off in like 3-4 holes.
-Quite a bit of trash on the course during the 2-3 holes which are adjacent to a skate park.

Other Thoughts:

-Beautiful way to get out into Santa Fe and enjoy some nature while the wildfires in New Mexico rage on right now.
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23 0
WD09
Gold level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 19.7 years 670 played 72 reviews
3.50 star(s)

America? 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 5, 2021 Played the course:once

Pros:

(To the tune of "A Horse with No Name," by America. My apologies if it's been done before or if you just don't enjoy it.)

When I first got to the arroyo
I was lookin' for some kind of map
There were benches, a playground, trash cans and things
And a basket by the parking lot

From the tees I had to watch the trails with care,
Watch with a careful eye
There were joggers, bikers, dog walkers
That could be hit from the sky

I've played through the desert
Throwin' discs with no name
It felt good there in the morning time
In the desert you must remember your line
'Cause the bushes and the little trees just grab all the time

La, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la

Cons:

After five holes in the desert sun
I needed an app instead
The signage left me without a clue
I was looking at a river bed
The satellites told me where next to go
Made it so I found blue and red

You see I've played through the desert
Throwin' discs with no name
It felt good there in the morning time
In the desert you must remember your line
'Cause the bushes and the little trees just grab all the time
La, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la

Other Thoughts:

After nine holes the course made sense to me
'Cause the direction had turned for home
There were cacti and birds and rocks and things
There was sand where I was throwin' rings

The course is in a desert but there's life all around
In a varied recreational space
The locals clearly put love into the course
It put a pleasin' smile on my face

(Everybody!)
You see I've played through the desert
Throwin' discs with no name
It felt good there in the morning time
In the desert you must remember your line
'Cause the bushes and the little trees just grab all the time
La, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la

La, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la
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10 0
HyooMac
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 6.7 years 415 played 382 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Desert Disc Golf 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Mar 10, 2020 Played the course:once

Pros:

Beautiful rugged southwest desert setting, with holes playing along and across a wide sandy arroyo wash


+ Multiple tees (concrete, mats). Brooms on some of the tees - which helps in this sandy environment

+ Posts and flags to help locate baskets

+ "Next tee" arrows affixed to the basket posts

+ Good basket placements using trees and bushes, putting a premium on correct approaches

+ Unique play along and across an arroyo wash, starting right away on hole #1

+ Hole #3 has a basket hidden in the trees across the arroyo. Don't mistakenly shoot at the basket to the right of it (that's #16)

+ Hole #4 basket is in the trees by the building in front of you. It's is a hard dogleg left, but an open path to the basket

+ The baskets on holes #5 - #7 all use the native juniper trees to guard the greens, requiring carefully placed low shots to make birdie

+ Hole #8 plays through an old stone prayer/meditation circle - very cool

+ Hole #9 starts with a great manmade tunnel

+ Hole #11 has added a partial split-rail fence to guard the basket from the left

+ Hole #15 is a long uphill, starting with a blind tee shot across the arroyo. Look for a mando sign up in one of the trees pointing your shot to the right

+ Hole #15 and beyond all incorporate the hill on this side of the arroyo to bring elevation into the closing holes



Cons:

- The combination of original (and mostly outdated) signage, along with simple posts marking the newer red and blue tees created a fair amount of wandering around

- Hole #9 long tee is a terrific tunnel built by a local group, but the basket position wasn't clear on uDisc

- One basket seems to be unused. It's near a parking area by the skate park, and I think it's #6 on the original map (uDisc instead shows a long walk to pick up at a newer tee location and new basket for #6)

- High vegetation makes finding discs tricky, and there's cactus (ouch!)

- The general layout is along a walking path, which can slow play significantly. You'll even have to pause now and then for people walking down the center of the arroyo

- The first play is pretty long - but I'm sure it's much faster when you know the layout


Other Thoughts:

~ I threw at the wrong basket several times. But with some backtracking, I played 18 different baskets from 18 blue tees - so I think I did it right

~ The only real problems with Arroyo Chamisos are course navigation and foot traffic along the walking path. There's a somewhat-outdated card with a map on this site, and combined with uDisc, you can manage pretty well. You can also try to play on days and times when there are likely to be fewer walkers. Taking those things into account, this is an excellent course, even if the ongoing improvements make it feel a little rough around the edges

~ I played here and at the nearby IAIA course on the same day, and they made for a great set of contrasts and similarities. I would feel very fortunate to live close enough to play both with regularity

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2 0
dylanpmanning
Experience: 4 played 2 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Interesting desert course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 3, 2019 Played the course:once

Pros:

A big change of pace compared to what I'm used to in the Midwest. Located very close to downtown Santa Fe. The desert terrain presented some interesting challenges in this course.

Cons:

Holes and tee boxes not well marked. I got really lucky that two locals started the course at the same time and invited me to join them, or else I might have given up on navigating the course.
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3 0
jdog17
Experience: 10.9 years 13 played 13 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Fun Desert Setting 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 11, 2017 Played the course:once

Pros:

-Some variation between shots
-Crosses a wash, so exotic if you aren't from the southwest
-Alt tees on every shot
-Back 9 has some interesting uphill shots that leave the wash and go into a relatively grassy area
-Considered a "2.5" rating but I think our experience was less-than-optimal due to weekend walking/biking traffic

Cons:

-A little hard to follow, although feasible with a map
-Crosses and recrosses a bike path, so there are a fair number of people who A) you might hit and B) look at you like your a weirdo
-A big skate park is being poured behind the Rec Center and it seems to have overtaken one of the baskets (can't remember number but somewhere between 8 and 12)
-Couldn't find a bathroom, although there was a porta-potty being used by the construction workers
-The area is shared with a bike path, and people walk through the wash itself; would recommend on weekdays rather than weekends

Other Thoughts:

Played this on a fine, temperate, sunny morning with a bit of gusty wind. I liked this course and would play it again, so rated it a "3" but it had several downsides. It was somewhat hard to navigate, although we had a map. Mainly this was because hole #1 was hard to find, and it could be hard to locate the alt tees (which were black rubber). This may have been operator error, but of all the courses we played on our trip (Grindstone, Brent Baca, Sunrise Terrace, Show Low) this was definitely the most difficult to follow ... although certainly not poorly marked. The second issue was the sage-colored, scrub plant life, which generally sat around 2-3 feet high and blanketed much of the course. Finding discs was more difficult than I expected, and more difficult than on other courses. The third issue - and this may have been because we played on the weekend - was the numerous non-frolfers. We were the only ones playing the course, but there was a lot of bike and walking traffic. They gave us funny looks and more than once made comments (?) as they either biked through the course (a paved bike path is in the middle of a lot of shots) or walked through the wash. I'm sure they were confused, as it's not really obvious that you are in a disc golf course. Some of the tees (pro tees) were on the bike path.

In addition, a big (and very cool-looking) skate park is being built in the middle of the course on one side of the wash behind the Rec Center. Construction appears to have subsumed one of the baskets. We used a tire nearby as our basket. The construction workers were really nice, but you do have to be careful as they are laying concrete ... although that shouldn't last too much longer.

Otherwise, there were a few holes, especially on the back nine, that were fun, uphill shots. Maybe it's a better course if you are a pro.
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3 0
Upshawt1979
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 20.8 years 548 played 429 reviews
4.00 star(s)

AC/DGC 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 6, 2015 Played the course:once

Pros:

Arroyo Chimasos DGC is a good course with enough challenge and variety to keep you on your toes. The course is set along either side of an arroyo behind Chavez Recreational Center. There are 18 holes with a couple of par 4's. Can play 9 hole layout by going directly from basket on hole 5 to tee for hole 15. The dessert landscape has plenty of open airspace on the fairways, featuring mostly short to medium height brush and evergreens, and a couple of taller trees. There are multiple tees, longs are concrete with signs and shorter tees are rubber mats, with a couple on the paved walking path next to the arroyo. The baskets were all numbered and in good condition, and usually point out the next tee with very helpful markings. A little bit of elevation change on a few holes. A lot of the holes are clear enough to drive over the top of any plant life, but mandos on 3 holes, some OB, and basket placement will still dictate shot shapes to add variety. The basket is not always visible from the tee. Hole three was a good one, crossing the arroyo to a basket beneath a nice tree. Hole 9 has an interesting mando, requiring a drive through a box consisting of a low line between a couple of trees. I also liked 15, which tees from the path, crossing the arroyo, then turning left at the mando and climbing the hill. 16 was a fun hole driving back down the hill. The map indicates a driving range between the tees for hole 8 and hole 14, but I didn't notice it.

Cons:

While the course is fun, it doesn't really have a memorable signature hole. Some of the holes are a bit bland, making the best out of what is available to work with. There is a walking path near several holes, so other park users can come into play, but not in a very disruptive or dangerous way. Not a lot of places to escape the sun, may get burnt on hot summer days.

Other Thoughts:

Arroyo Chimasos DGC is a course that I wouldn't mind playing on a regular basis. Not exactly championship caliber, but nice setting and plenty of good quality holes. 4 may be slightly overrating, but I tend to be an optimist when it comes to course reviews and I had a good time playing this one. I ended up a few shots over par, but the weather was great and I got a couple of birdies in, so I am happy.
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1 1
tkconlon
Experience: 8.6 years 6 played 6 reviews
3.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 21, 2015 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

3 tees for each hole
Each basket has arrow to next tee
Not real tall trees
Interesting layout
Many obstacles for each hole
Short holes for beginner tees

Cons:

Long holes for pro tees
Flexible fiber tee pads for Am and beginner tees
Lots of broken glass everywhere
Ants
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1 1
ODRB
Premium Member
Experience: 15.9 years 190 played 7 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Fun desert course 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jul 29, 2014 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Desert landscape making good use ofthe arroyo and the available space.

Three sets of tees:
Shorts for putter only ace run rounds
Mids for when you've never played it before and want a look at the layout and a decent challenge
Pros for a better challenge

Layout was pretty easy to figure out, which is good because

It was empty three days in a row duringmy vacation

Cons:

Bike paths cross the course

No shade and no water


Other Thoughts:

Worth the stop if you're in Santa Fe. You won't need many discs to play it well (I played 3 under from the pros with Volt, Inspire, Roc, Envy.) And the short tees provide a quick putter-only walkthrough to get a good lay of the land.
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1 1
jeffboi
Experience: 9.9 years 14 played 14 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Fun Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 13, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

This is a fun course. You won't loose too many discs playing here and you can rip drives on every hole.

Cons:

It is a bit hard to find the basket on some tee boxes, but the locals are very friendly and will gladly help.

Other Thoughts:

This is a pretty easy, fun course with very little technical play.
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2 1
Mako8
Experience: 22.9 years 13 played 10 reviews
3.00 star(s)

The new course in SF 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Nov 9, 2013 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

This course has some great shots over the arroyo; both of which are long and short. It requires you to use every disc in your bag. I grew up in SF and love the arroyos/washes and like even more that the city took advantage of the "unusable" land. The course flows pretty well and requires walking through the sand; a good workout and way to strengthen the feet. Great mondo shot on hole 9 (I think).

Cons:

The course signage is pretty weak and not very noticable. Course path can be tough to find and tees also need to marked better. There is a walking/biking path right through the course that is frequently used; so there is some foot traffic. Watch for people running on the path as some holes require you to tee off on the path. Trails are everywhere causing you to get lost.

Other Thoughts:

This course is fun and challenging but it helps to play with someone who has played there before. The course can be hard to follow and tees are hard to find. Good long shot on hole 10, hole 12 has a great elevated basket shot and hole 17 is way up one the hill on the left. This leads you to hole 18; a good long shot just watch out for people on the trail below. Enjoy!
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1 8
Dreeks505
Experience: 2 played 2 reviews
4.50 star(s)

Best Course in Santa Fe 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jan 19, 2013 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Every hole you get to lace bombs.

Cons:

The baskets get moved randomly... or only when the gambling group has somebody hit an ace... so they have been in the same place for over 6 months

Other Thoughts:

LOVE this course. Really great drives. Challenging second shots and putts.
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2 2
KDFrosty
Experience: 11.7 years 37 played 14 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Nice high desert course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 4, 2012 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

-Full 18 holes, each with their own basket
-No other disc golf traffic. We played at our own pace.
-Gold tees have concrete pads, and tee signs at each gold tee.
-Course offer a good variety of shots, with an good mix of hole distances.
-Baskets are in excellent condition, with signs to next tee on each baskets. Many holes have extended flags, making them easier to spot from the tees.
-There is sometimes course maps at the first gold tee on the bike path.

Cons:

-The course is in a public park with a bike path running through the middle. On one or two occasions we waited for a biker or two to pass. Nothing terrible.
-The actual playground and grassy part of the park were under construction. It did interfere with the basket closest to the parking lot, which we played as 18.
-There's a fair amount of cactus throughout the course, and even on the worn in walking paths along the course.

Other Thoughts:

Overall I thought it was a nice course offering various challenges. Also nice because it's easy to access from the freeway.
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5 1
lajoie24
Experience: 12.7 years 30 played 18 reviews
4.00 star(s)

First Ace! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 24, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

The course was in great shape. Both the tee boxes (concrete/rubber pads) and the baskets were in good condition. This was my first New Mexican course, so I was captivated by the beautiful terrain and topography. When I initially saw all of the bushes/trees, I thought there might be an issue or two with missing discs. This was far from the truth. The layout of the course makes great use of the dry river bed and bike trail (often used as tee boxes). With all of the holes containing three tee boxes, the course allows players of all skill levels to come out and enjoy a round. It rained while I was out. I thought the day was lost until a local let me know how quickly the ground dries. About a half hour later the course was back to being 100% playable. This is a luxury we do not have in Texas.

Cons:

This wasn't the easiest course to navigate. Even though I brought a map, a few of the baskets and tees were tough to find. I threw at the 17th basket on 15 (15's basket is well left of 17). There is no doubt the next time I play it will be quicker/easier. I think new flags for the baskets would remedy this issue. I'm not a big fan of artificial "mandos". The 9th hole has you throw under a bar about 10' up. This may be more of a "preference" than a "con"

Other Thoughts:

You will encounter a cactus or two out there, so be aware of your surroundings - especially if you tend to wander after your shots. The bike path is used by many of the locals...look both ways before driving.
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4 0
gregwil2
Experience: 12.9 years 61 played 9 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Best for the terrain 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 28, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

The DGA Mach V with blue powder coating were all in excellent condition. All the baskets had an arrow pointing you to the next tee which helped for navigation. There also seemed to be 2-3 basket locations for each hole.
With three (or more) tee's per hole this course has great reply value. Especially since the short and medium have rubber mats and the long tees use either the walking path or have a stand alone concrete pads. The shortest tee is good for beginners or experience players working on their short/medium game (with ace runs). Medium tees provide more of a challenge and also a different look and route. The long tees are obviously the longest and hardest but none are too ridiculous that you need to be a Pro to hit par.
There were tee signs on every hole for the long tees, but the short tees had some sort of marker colored with the appropriate tee color.
The layout goes back and forth one side of the Arroyo then for the last few it crosses back and forth. It was decent to follow with the next tee signs on the baskets, but the baskets were sometimes hard to find.
The course takes advantage of all the landscape that was provided. Using trees to block baskets and to throw around/through. Hole 9 especially uses this with the tight initial fairway opening up to the basket.

Cons:

Even though there were tee signs that had directions, some were pretty beat up or written on. It would be nice to have distances for the different basket locations and maybe some sort of indication of which placement they were in.
There was some trash in certain areas, but it wasn't too bad.
Being used to playing on grass, the sand/gravel was annoying at times but that's what you get in NM.

Other Thoughts:

Would be nice to have 10' flags on each basket to show where to throw. Also if the tee signs were in pristine shape it would defaintly increase the rating for this course.
I was just visiting the area and played a few in the ABQ area and this was defaintly worth the drive to play. The only problem was the high winds, but I'm not sure if this is common here.
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6 0
jblough
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 14.9 years 85 played 82 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Course of Enchantment 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 30, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

- Excellent signage and "next tee signs," which comes in handy because you're gonna need them! (I'll explain later)
- Multiple tees every hole
- Variety of shot selection despite having little elevation (hyzers, anhyzers, overhand shots, blind shots, one wooded technical hole, etc.)
- Good use of OB boundaries, mandos, and the wash that goes through the park
- Quasi-water hazards (the washes didn't have any water, but I treated them as water hazards)
- Nice distance on some tees. I recall about 2 that required all I could throw and then some!
- Love the desert terrain and how it's interspersed with a small forest on hole 9.

Cons:

- Navigation is very switchy on the front 9 (especially holes #1-6). Moreover, navigation is erratic due to the nature of the course. Think of the park as a football field (very long and kind of slender). As such, you have to go up and down the course to fit 18 holes in here. Fortunately the signs tell you where to go.

- Potential to hit park-goers on many holes (especially the blind ones), so watch your shots. There were quite a number of people when I played here, and I'm not sure how typical this is of the course traffic.
- Vandalism on some signs
- Can get pretty gusty with wind; bring some overstables!

Other Thoughts:

Santa Fe is a fantastic city and I really enjoyed my stay; this park is consistent with that! While it doesn't have any particularly steep elevation changes and is more or less open and flat, you will have to think about your shots. Love the desert/Southwest feel to the course and it's very authentic to the area. My only issues are with navigation, and that's remedied by the signage. Not sure how this ranks compared to the other courses in the city, but this one is definitely worth the trip!

Signature holes:
#9 - Utilizes a tree mando and required you to throw through a very tight and technical grove of trees to get to the basket. Definitely the most unique hole of the course, considering the rest is in a desert!
#12 - Throws over the wash and up the hill. Some tree overhang poses a hazard to your throw.
#15 - Downhill drive that has some elevation; with the gusty wind, it makes you think about how you're going to park it by the basket accurately!
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9 0
The Valkyrie Kid
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 45.9 years 1563 played 1507 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Thanks For All The Navigational Help! 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Apr 1, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

Wow, I loved all the helpful navigational aids! Now, can you do something about the wind? Possibly, the best marked course I've played as far as helping the first time player. Each basket has a metal arrow pointing to the next teepad and sometimes giving even more info such "Next tee on bike path." Each basket had the number on it. The tees on the bike pads were clearly marked. The shorter, alternate pads had helpful colorful poles making them easy to locate. This course is located in a true desert terrain. Other New Mexico desert courses I've played have often felt more like grubby vacant lots. I thought it's a great idea to extend the run-up across the bike path by laying down rubber mating on the back side. The course would be challenging to players of all skill levels. The winds made it even more difficult. The baskets that were set into thick undergrowth often had flags on them to help players locate them. All in all, much though went into making this an enjoyable place in which to enjoy a round of disc golf.

My own personal signature hole today was # 16 in the pin position it was in. It was in the short 202" position and just the top of the basket was visible. Just a very nice liitle ACE run. And I think there would be some great basket positions in the cluster of trees on this hole.

Cons:

I did almost get mowed down by a bike rider as I was scanning the brush looking for a basket but I guess that was probably my fault. I didn't encounter any blizzards. The wind was bordering on brutal. I suspose one could spend a fair amount of time hunting for discs in underbrush here.

Other Thoughts:

This course definitely receives a generous amount of support from the local disc community. That's wonderful to see but I wonder why when I played the other two courses in Santa Fe, Ashbaugh Park and St. Johns, they had been so neglected. How about a little support for those two courses? Sanya Fe is a big enough city to support more than one course, isn't it? And it seems like the dry sunny climate would be wonderful for some serious disc golf.
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10 0
cubby96
Experience: 28.3 years 60 played 5 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Blizzard round 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 30, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

We played the Pro tees, but there are 3 tee locations on each hole for different ability levels. Great variety and length of holes. Several holes are pretty long from the Pro tees. A couple of mandos that make for challenging shots (was it #9 that had the long tunnel shot with a mando below a bar, killing hammer/thumbers?).

Really interesting locally native terrain and flora, that is definitely a part of the experience. I like the local rule about playing behind the plants, so as to leave the area as natural as possible.

No course maps in the box, but we could figure out the layout pretty well due to good signage and logical layout, despite the weather conditions (see below).

Cons:

Not the course's fault, but the day we could play, it was whiteout conditions, with driving snow and several inches of accumulation. My buddy forgot his discs and bought a few in ABQ on the way there. Over the course of the day, he literally emptied his bag into the driven snow and lost every one of them, plus one of mine. The one with a name/number (mine) got a call from a helpful local who found it a week or so later (this is a pro, not a con).

I wonder if the course is playable when the arroyo gets flooded, probably not, given the layout.

Watch your hands, so you don't accidentally swing into a cactus!

Other Thoughts:

Would like to play this again in the heat of the summer, for a contrast. Overall, it's a really nice course, that is well cared for and offers a challenge to high-level golfers as well as opportunities for beginners and average players to still enjoy and improve.

Be careful if you usually play near sea level, the elevation here is ~7000 feet, so things will fly differently.
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2 7
ryan ranes
Experience: 15.6 years 48 played 25 reviews
4.50 star(s)

A fun sandy course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 22, 2010 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

one of my favorite courses it has alot of diffrent shots diffrent teepads for diffrent skill levels and some fun 650 par 4 holes there are not to many people who play there so it doesnt get crowded either there are cement and rubber teepads and signs on every hole

Cons:

it does get windy so go early in the morning there are alot of people walking around so watch out

Other Thoughts:

the best holes to me are 9 and 16
if your here for a while play here ashbaugh park and st johns park
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8 2
bayouace
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 31.8 years 49 played 24 reviews
3.00 star(s)

9-Hole Review 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jun 9, 2010 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

This is a review of the 9 hole configuration, Holes 1-5 and 15-18 only. I played on vacation with my wife and we had time for 9 holes on two occasions. RHBH average player.

I played the Rec tees with her once and the Am tees once. There are also Pro tees. This is a nice park and with a map on DGCR the course is easy to follow. Metal fence posts painted red or blue mark the rec and Am tee boxes. Pros are easy to find with the map 1 crosses the now-dry arroyo to a basket shielded by a 8 foot desert bush. 2 crosses a dry pond. 3 comes back across the arroyo to a basket surrounded by trees on an incline of the bank. 4 is entirely back across the arroyo to the tee. 5 is also on this side of the arroyo. 15 goes uphill. 16 goes back really downhill for a big elevation change to a basket on the bank of the arroyo. 17 heads back up, and 18 finishes with a tight OB between the arroyo and the park area. This was a fun course. Locals are friendly. Walkers were not a problem. The 9 hole distances were fair. Tees are concrete or rubber pad.

Cons:

I think there are water and restrooms in the activity center but there is none on the course or in the park. Bring water.

Other Thoughts:

The fun holes for me were 3, 15, and 16. I thoroughly enjoyed the course and highly recommend you play it if in Santa Fe. It is easy to get to with a map of Santa Fe, right off Rodeo Drive, which is a major road in South Santa Fe. Paved parking lot.
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8 1
DrDipsomania
Experience: 52 played 12 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Juniper Laden Desert Golf 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 29, 2010 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Wonderful scenery. Multiple tee pads (most have 3 different levels: Pro, Amateur/Mid-Level, and Recreational) and multiple pin locations. All the Pro tees are either concrete slabs or off of the concrete/pavement bike path, the Amateur and Recreational are a rubber/plastic composite. Great signage, with detailed descriptions of various mandatory shots, distances, out of bounds areas, and different pin locations, including a notation of which pin is currently in. Very easy to navigate; each pin has an arrow pointing you in the direction of the next tee. Well laid-out and well designed with a good shot variety. Moderately challenging, more so (obviously) from the Pro tees. Relatively trash-free (probably due to the fact that it's in a well-trafficked public park) and well maintained. The baskets are in excellent shape. Not a ton of elevation change (due to the relatively flat terrain), but the design makes use of what's available.

Cons:

The walking trail / bike path that bisects the course can pose problems: people on the path have the right of way, so you might have to wait for them to clear out before you throw. Hole 18 is right next to the park (which is OB), which can pose as a potential hazard with a combination of a crowd and an errant throw. Some holes are blind, which is normally an okay thing, but when the pedestrians/bikers are taken into account, it can be a bit of a negative. Most of the Pro tees are simply longer than the Amateur, instead of offering a more challenging angle/line. Low, dense brush has a knack for disc disappearances.

Other Thoughts:

Several of the tees have brooms available for sweeping off the tee boxes/pads. I didn't need them because the tee boxes/pads were all clean, but it's still a great addition.
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