Sandia Golf Club New Mexico Make Bo Derek Proud (Golf Master Tips) - As far as golf courses go especially those in New Mexico – Sandia Golf Club is enough to make Bo Derek proud.
The club celebrates the 10th anniversary of its opening. And given the new additions to an already splendid facility, Sandia has taken another step into the future – one it hopes eventually will include hosting a Web.com or LPGA tournament.
• Mondays-Thursdays: $71; $46 after 2 p.m.
• Fridays-Sundays and holidays: $86; $61 after 2 p.m.
• June anniversary special: $60 (rate of 10 years ago) on Mondays through Thursdays.
“With the opening of The Event Center, I really think we have the best course/banquet facility in the state,” said Matt Molloy, the director of golf at Sandia since in opened June 11, 2005. “Really, it’s maybe the best I’ve ever seen anywhere. It’s really awesome and well done.”
The only real problem Sandia has faced in the past was its inability to host top-of-the-line tournament award banquets and functions.
The course has a very nice dining area and patio looking out at the Sandias, but simply wasn’t big enough to stage large gatherings. The Event Center, which is adjacent to the pro shop and connected with the gorgeous new Green Reed Spa – the latter which includes a bridal suite and salon – now allows Sandia to host multiple gatherings in a state-of-the art complex. It has a huge banquet room in which large window/doors can be open or shut, when the weather dictates the latter.
“We were always having to put up tents, and it just didn’t work well when the winds came up of when it started getting cold,” Molloy said. “With this facility – the whole building is 28,000 square feet – we can host any type of event, from large golf tournaments to weddings, to just about any function.
“We have giant DirecTV screens and an unbelievable sound system,” Molloy said, smiling like a kid at Christmas while displaying all the bells and whistles with a remote control. “There are so many little details that went into this project.”
Molloy said tournaments were always a “tough sell” despite the quality of the course.
“That’s no longer an issue,” he said. “The ballroom is about 5,300 square feet and divides into as many as four spaces. We have a full kitchen, aside from the snack bars, and we can grill outdoors. If it’s too windy, too cold or too hot, we close the doors up and everyone can still see the course outside because of the sliding glass wall.”
Sandia has been a golf mainstay since its debut. It has kept its fees reasonable enough to attract plenty of locals and is a perfect resort course for visitors using the hotel/casino as a getaway.
“In 10 short years, Sandia Golf Club has become one of the premier facilities in the Sun Country golf world,” said Dana Lehner, executive director of Sun Country Golf. “They’re recognized nationally on a consistent basis in all areas from the course itself to the service that comes out of the golf shop.
“And, along with it, Matt Molloy has become a fixture of leadership in the Sun Country PGA, having served on the board now for more than five years while ascending to the presidency in March. He really is a model PGA member and course operator.”
Sandia’s holes have a resort-feel to them on the links-style course, with many of the roughs having slopes that will keep balls in play. Some of the course’s toughest obstacles – such as the mesa surrounding the green on No. 9 – have been cleaned up to help players find their ball more quickly and be able to hit a shot, instead of battling weeds in search for a ball they ultimately might not locate.
“We’ve done a ton of work over last 10 years, just kind of tweaking the golf course,” Molloy said. “We’ve got much better drainage. Even with all the rain last month, we haven’t seen any damage at all. And where we used to get those gully-washers that washed the desert onto the golf course, that doesn’t happen now.”
The course has always been very player-friendly, but five sets of tee boxes can also stretch it to 7,750 yards, if necessary, to make it pro tour-caliber.
This decorative display is on a table in the Event Center at Sandia Golf Club, which hopes to play host to a Web.com Tour or LPGA tournament in the future. (Greg Sorber/Albuquerque Journal)
This decorative display is on a table in the Event Center at Sandia Golf Club, which hopes to play host to a Web.com Tour or LPGA tournament in the future. (Greg Sorber/Albuquerque Journal)
“One of the things we trying to do is make the course easier to play,” Molloy said. “Clearing out some arroyos, making the game easier, more fun, faster. A lot of courses around town and the country are trying to do that.
“On No. 9 green, there was a huge arroyo and a thicket. It was a mess. Now we keep it groomed and clean. And on No. 11, the downhill par 5, there was a huge thicket that came into play for people trying to go for the green in 2. They would always lose their ball down there. We cleaned that all out and added some grass. I don’t think it changes much from a strategic standpoint. You’re still in the desert, it’s still not a fun shot, but you get to find your ball and it speeds up the game.”
Pros around the country, especially presidents of sections such as Molloy, know the game has taken a huge hit in participation since the recent recession. The secret to growing the game, they feel, is keeping the established players while trying to find new ones through a youth movement.
Sandia features a number of youth camps and clinics and even has a “Get Golf Ready” program for adults, in which the course pros conduct a series of five group lessons.
“After 2008, play went down big time across the country,” Molloy said. “We weren’t hurt as badly overall in Albuquerque, but we even saw a decline here (at Sandia). It went down about 10 to 12 percent after 2008. But it is climbing back up a little bit, and we’ve been pretty stable the last three or four years.
“At its peak, golf had about 30 million golfers nationwide. It lost 5 million, which is about 12 percent. But only about 3 percent of the courses closed, so it’s a buyer’s market in some areas. But right now, there is a huge focus on the millennials. We have to make it fun and cool for them to play.”
One look at Sandia’s course, new Event Center and spa could definitely be a good first step. (Latest golf news author and source: Mark Smith /Journal Assistant Sports Editor & ABQ Journal)
The club celebrates the 10th anniversary of its opening. And given the new additions to an already splendid facility, Sandia has taken another step into the future – one it hopes eventually will include hosting a Web.com or LPGA tournament.
• Mondays-Thursdays: $71; $46 after 2 p.m.
• Fridays-Sundays and holidays: $86; $61 after 2 p.m.
• June anniversary special: $60 (rate of 10 years ago) on Mondays through Thursdays.
Sandia Golf Club New Mexico
All fees include cart and range balls.“With the opening of The Event Center, I really think we have the best course/banquet facility in the state,” said Matt Molloy, the director of golf at Sandia since in opened June 11, 2005. “Really, it’s maybe the best I’ve ever seen anywhere. It’s really awesome and well done.”
The only real problem Sandia has faced in the past was its inability to host top-of-the-line tournament award banquets and functions.
The course has a very nice dining area and patio looking out at the Sandias, but simply wasn’t big enough to stage large gatherings. The Event Center, which is adjacent to the pro shop and connected with the gorgeous new Green Reed Spa – the latter which includes a bridal suite and salon – now allows Sandia to host multiple gatherings in a state-of-the art complex. It has a huge banquet room in which large window/doors can be open or shut, when the weather dictates the latter.
“We were always having to put up tents, and it just didn’t work well when the winds came up of when it started getting cold,” Molloy said. “With this facility – the whole building is 28,000 square feet – we can host any type of event, from large golf tournaments to weddings, to just about any function.
“We have giant DirecTV screens and an unbelievable sound system,” Molloy said, smiling like a kid at Christmas while displaying all the bells and whistles with a remote control. “There are so many little details that went into this project.”
Molloy said tournaments were always a “tough sell” despite the quality of the course.
“That’s no longer an issue,” he said. “The ballroom is about 5,300 square feet and divides into as many as four spaces. We have a full kitchen, aside from the snack bars, and we can grill outdoors. If it’s too windy, too cold or too hot, we close the doors up and everyone can still see the course outside because of the sliding glass wall.”
Sandia has been a golf mainstay since its debut. It has kept its fees reasonable enough to attract plenty of locals and is a perfect resort course for visitors using the hotel/casino as a getaway.
“In 10 short years, Sandia Golf Club has become one of the premier facilities in the Sun Country golf world,” said Dana Lehner, executive director of Sun Country Golf. “They’re recognized nationally on a consistent basis in all areas from the course itself to the service that comes out of the golf shop.
“And, along with it, Matt Molloy has become a fixture of leadership in the Sun Country PGA, having served on the board now for more than five years while ascending to the presidency in March. He really is a model PGA member and course operator.”
Sandia’s holes have a resort-feel to them on the links-style course, with many of the roughs having slopes that will keep balls in play. Some of the course’s toughest obstacles – such as the mesa surrounding the green on No. 9 – have been cleaned up to help players find their ball more quickly and be able to hit a shot, instead of battling weeds in search for a ball they ultimately might not locate.
“We’ve done a ton of work over last 10 years, just kind of tweaking the golf course,” Molloy said. “We’ve got much better drainage. Even with all the rain last month, we haven’t seen any damage at all. And where we used to get those gully-washers that washed the desert onto the golf course, that doesn’t happen now.”
The course has always been very player-friendly, but five sets of tee boxes can also stretch it to 7,750 yards, if necessary, to make it pro tour-caliber.
This decorative display is on a table in the Event Center at Sandia Golf Club, which hopes to play host to a Web.com Tour or LPGA tournament in the future. (Greg Sorber/Albuquerque Journal)
This decorative display is on a table in the Event Center at Sandia Golf Club, which hopes to play host to a Web.com Tour or LPGA tournament in the future. (Greg Sorber/Albuquerque Journal)
“One of the things we trying to do is make the course easier to play,” Molloy said. “Clearing out some arroyos, making the game easier, more fun, faster. A lot of courses around town and the country are trying to do that.
“On No. 9 green, there was a huge arroyo and a thicket. It was a mess. Now we keep it groomed and clean. And on No. 11, the downhill par 5, there was a huge thicket that came into play for people trying to go for the green in 2. They would always lose their ball down there. We cleaned that all out and added some grass. I don’t think it changes much from a strategic standpoint. You’re still in the desert, it’s still not a fun shot, but you get to find your ball and it speeds up the game.”
Pros around the country, especially presidents of sections such as Molloy, know the game has taken a huge hit in participation since the recent recession. The secret to growing the game, they feel, is keeping the established players while trying to find new ones through a youth movement.
Sandia features a number of youth camps and clinics and even has a “Get Golf Ready” program for adults, in which the course pros conduct a series of five group lessons.
“At its peak, golf had about 30 million golfers nationwide. It lost 5 million, which is about 12 percent. But only about 3 percent of the courses closed, so it’s a buyer’s market in some areas. But right now, there is a huge focus on the millennials. We have to make it fun and cool for them to play.”
One look at Sandia’s course, new Event Center and spa could definitely be a good first step. (Latest golf news author and source: Mark Smith /Journal Assistant Sports Editor & ABQ Journal)
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