Albuquerque Country Club

Overview: Albuquerque Country Club is a historic private course near Old Town, the Rio Grande and the city’s original Route 66 corridor. Its 18 holes have the atmosphere of an established parkland course, with tree-lined fairways, contoured greens and a canopy that stands out in Albuquerque’s generally open landscape. John Van Kleek is credited with the course design, while the irrigated setting gives the layout a character that depends as much on mature vegetation and ground movement as on formal hazards. It is a city course in the best historical sense, closely connected to the growth of Albuquerque around it.

History: The club was founded in 1914 by 22 local businessmen, beginning with a five-hole course that used gravel fairways and sand greens near the present UNM area. The original land was sold in 1927, and the club moved to its current 100-acre site in 1928. That property had been part of Huning Farm and Trimble’s Hog Farm, and its proximity to irrigation water helped establish the tree-lined character that still defines the course.

Did You Know? The club’s history says that an old irrigation canal from the Rio Grande to Old Town crossed the property, and depressions from the canal remain visible on several fairways. The same history also records that a private home beside the course was purchased in early 1929 and renovated for the club, giving the present site a clubhouse story almost as old as the course itself.