Thirteenth Hole
Now you are really out in the wild. The most distant hole from the clubhouse presents a tremendous array of options for the golfer. Again nearly 600 yards the hole can be reached in two with well-placed shots at this altitude. The green is enormous, so just getting there in two may not be a big favor that you’ve done yourself. This is the largest green on the course with a wasp-waisted shape and a traditional back to front slope.
Getting there is at least half the fun, the generous landing area is perhaps the most forgiving on the course with a left fairway bunker benched into the hill which if skillfully avoided will provide extra kick and roll to a well-played drive. At the corner the player will see what lies ahead, if short the player must contend with a very large bunker that lies to the right of center and provides the shots that will be best received by this green. Past the bunker will give you a shot generally under 100 yards which can yield a confidence building birdie, short of the bunker may leave you nearly 200 yards.
If you’ve reached the corner, you’ll need a running draw to hit and hold this green. This green is so large that the two shot option is really in play for the front part of the green unless you are long-hitting and high and you must land the ball softly. For most a true three shot hole.
Fourteenth Hole
This second potentially reachable par 4 has angle of approach wholly dependent on pin position. This green is wicked with an EL-shape, two ridges and valleys and a false front. Front right will allow a drive which carries over the small ridge left natural in the right center of the fairway to potentially run on. There is a kicker, somewhat mirror in shape to the one on the seventh to allow this but it is less receptive. Hitting the front of the green with the pin in the rear left is probably an error as the contours make it so miserable for the golfer so inclined. Trying to reach a right sided bunker for the long hitter going to a left and rear pin is perhaps the best choice. The small hill and several fairway bunkers make the lay-up shot demanding so this is not necessarily a breather nor a birdie hole. It can be a great match play hole if you have the honor forcing your competitor to go for it if you pull your shot off and also making it no given that a lay-up with two putts is a sure thing either. Again, you do not find short par 4’s this good very often.
Fifteenth Hole
The final par 3 has the only real water on the golf course – an irrigation reservoir. Good news is that the ground contours and slopes built into the hole allow you to take it out of play most of the time. At first glance the green makes you forget all about the water. Closer inspection will reveal that the clever player can use the internal shelf and double mound contours to move the ball to the correct part of the green. There is also a very small shelf far right and far back which is highly demanding and highly satisfying to reach. Don’t ever be past the pin position on this hole.
The smart plays here are generally to let the ground help you as there is much help on the ground to feed your ball where it needs to go. If you are not successful in pulling it off, however, you will have some challenging putting. Due to altitude and elevation of the tee, you will find a little forgiveness here so all in all this is the par 3 with the most “sense of humour”. I think there is a lot of fun to this hole.
Sixteenth Hole
Visually spectacular does not even begin to capture the entirety of this hole. It is, yet as the shortest par 5 on the card maxing out at only 536 yards, this hole is continuously, relentlessly and progressively uphill, challenging and demanding! If you must miss the fairway miss it left, not right to have any chance of recovery. The fairway is relatively narrow and uphill with several shelves to land on or kick off on your way up the hill. If you can get on the flat plateau to the left of the two fairway bunkers off the tee you may have a shot at this green in two. Don’t be disheartened, even most third shots to this green are blind, too.
This may be the most complex green on the course with back center most challenging of all. A huge central spine and a steep ridge are the most apparent features as they are so bold, but slight contours also add to the putting difficulties. Hard to believe, but after only 536 yards most golfers fell quite satisfied with five. Be certain to look back down the hole a few times while you are playing it.
Seventeenth Hole
After crossing the saddle and going back to the tees, you’ll wish that you had looked just a little more closely just where the fairway is your first time on this hole. Quite a vista is available from this tee as you can see the first nine especially hole three whose fairway borders this hole’s fairway on the right. Sloping fairly significantly from left to right you’ll find the fairway more often than you might think. That’s a good thing as that is less than half the battle. It is quite uphill to a skyline green which barely seems that it is there. Pins on the far left third of the green are seemingly stuck into the mountainside, while the middle and right sides of the green are much more receptive in appearance and actuality. A large swale over the mid third of the green saves many an aggressive shot hit up this hill although leaving it short is probably a bit more common. There is also a smallish false front on that right side to complicate matters just when the player thinks that he has caught a little break. This hole has a tremendous variety due to the green shape and position, strategic flexibility at its best!
Eighteenth Hole
The last hole at Black Mesa is not the hardest hole on the course and for some more familiar with modern architecture than the classical type this may come as a letdown. Modern professional tournament golf has become famous for hard, harder and hardest - the gladiator’s finish as if there were some ultimate reward in just the last hole. Black Mesa is far more in the classical mold in this regard as the last hole is the best hole that the remaining terrain provided the architect. Many classical courses were built with primarily match play in mind and as such the 18th and even the 16-17th holes were often not needed in the match.
The sublime seventeen might have had to be sacrificed or even the magnificent 16 as well as 17 changed in some way to provide a different finish returning to the clubhouse. The eighteenth is indeed a fine hole, just not a massive one. The drive is very demanding as there is a fine line between line and power. The correct drive controlling distance, direction and planning for action on the ground is necessary to have a good level lie and a proper angle into the multiple pin positions that are available on the eighteenth hole. Sloping away from you left to right, neither a fade nor a draw to the fairway is safe unless it is precisely struck to allow approach to the demanding green with two major ridges. It is a fitting conclusion to a spectacular trip around the stunning landscape that is Black Mesa.
Getting to Black Mesa is a relatively long trip for many but what you find there is one of the best courses built in modern America. Value is an added bonus as this course will be only one-third the tariff of the usual desert resort fare in Scottsdale, Palm Springs and other more trendy vacation spots. The scenic nature of the trip and the use of the land are a wonderful reward at journey's end. Accommodation at one of the many fine Santa Fe properties is a leisurely 30 minute drive away, hardly worth mentioning in the wide open American west. The combination of affordability and the quality of architecture and challenge are notably special in today's world of golf travel. Outstanding is not overstating the mark.