by Pat Brockwell
Nice piece on Native Golf, thanks for giving us a break from the usual GolfRant.com! I am a partner in a joint venture with the Santa Clara Pueblo at Black Mesa Golf Club north of Santa Fe NM. The tribe has been a great partner and is committed to a quality product. I'm not just trying to hype my own meal ticket here, but I would like to point out that the tribal taxes do go to the tribe for worth while programs, you can rest assured that their taxes aren't going into any foriegn wars or lobbyists pockets. As taxes go, these aren't nearly as bad as the rest of them we pay.

by Chuck Collet
Chris:-Your comments on the advantages of playing on native american golf courses may be well deserved, but your choice of courses, ie; We-Ko-Pa, couldn't have been worse.. I'll go you one better and add The Whirlwind resort courses south of Chandler in my coments as well. While many "native" run golf courses,(whats wrong with looking at "Apache Stronghold" just across the way in Globe Arizona), offers great value for the money. Courses like the three major native courses in the Valley of the Sun have given themselves a bad reputation in the eyes of the ordinary recreational golfer. BJ's comments were not at all out of place in describing his experience at We-Ko-Pa. I have played this golf course as well and my experience was right in line with his. I also had a far too expensive, and service deprived experience at the Whirlwind Resort Courses. I also, would like to make a small point about taxes charged at these facilities.. They can call them taxes if they want, but any extra charges incurred on a "native american" golf course is not a tax, it is a surcharge to get as deep as possible into your pocket on land that doesn't have to pay taxes.. When you add to this the seemingly benign locating of Casino's close to the golf course (oh they only want to offer you a place to eat and drink for good prices) Oh yea sure!! I have no axe to grind with native americans trying to get ahead, but you will have to find better examples, and to suggest that they have anything to do with the good of the game is both ludicrous and a great serving of largess on your part.. I will continue to play at "Native American" golf courses but I will make a point of staying away from ones who operate like the courses they own in the valley of the sun..

by BJ
Chris - you gave We-Ko-Pa a nod in the article. I played it, at a pricey $195 + tax (of some kind). If this is #34 on the greatest courses you can play list, I don't want to play #35. Somebody, maybe the architect or the tribe, is real proud of it, why I'm not sure. Cart path only (dry as a bone), no yardage markers visible in the fairways from the paths, no yardage books or good hole maps for that matter, plenty of blind shots, and no GPS, made for a tortuous day dragging half your bag out to your ball, if you could find it (or walking/carrying when terrain allowed). Oh yeah, water coolers were at a premium and I saw the cart girl twice. Save your money and play Longbow at 1/2 the price, a GPS, and drive to your ball on this walkable desert course in great condition always.

by JR
I too played We-Ko-PA with my husband and 2 friends. We disagee with BJ,we all loved it. Add Isle of Lakes in CT to your list of Native American owned and operated courses. They have 1 public and 1 private course at the site-they are both gems!JR