Mark Wagner
Special to ICT
Native-owned golf courses have spread throughout the United States, from Hawai’i to the East Coast, expanding Native economies and providing a new offering for tourists to join the casinos, spas and other enterprises.
As early as 1912, Oneida leader Laura Cornelius Kellogg called for Native-owned economy on Native land. Golf is just one of many ways to achieve this.
Here’s a regional summary of more than 60 tribally owned golf courses identified by ICT.
THE NORTHEAST
If my math is correct, and I believe it is, the Jones brothers — Robert Trent Jones II and Rees Jones — account for more than 10 percent of the designs of Native golf courses. While they work apart, in their own design firms, each of their artistry work is on display in the Northeast.
“Anything I can do to help the tribes, I’m willing to do,” Rees Jones told ICT, noting that Dacotah Ridge and Lake of Isles courses are two of his designs at the heart of economic endeavors by tribes.
Robert Trent Jones ll also celebrates the historical nature of his work, and recalls when he designed and built Cochiti Golf Club in New Mexico in 1981.
“The work wasn’t pro bono, but it was modest,” he said. “And literally, they had a ceremony, and the elders surrounded me and had some aspen-covered drums, and some flutes, and played some Indian chants. The tribe held a ritual, asking the great spirit if my spirit was right to design and build a golf course there.”
Jones would agree that we cannot tell the story of America — or golf — without our First People. “It’s a revolutionary spirit returning the land to original usage,” he said. “I mean, having an economy separate from the White settlers.”
Here are tribally owned golf courses in the Northeastern United States.
Connecticut
*Lake of Isles
Mashantucket Pequot Nation
North Stonington, Connecticut
*Mohegan Sun Golf Club
Mohegan Tribe
Baltic, Connecticut
New York
*Turning Stone Golf Courses
Oneida Indian Nation
Verona, New York
The courses include Atunyote, Kaluhyat, Shenandoah, Sandstone Hollow and Pleasant Knolls. Atunyote, the Oneida word for “eagle,” is an 18-hole layout designed by Tom Fazio that opened in 2004. Atunyote also is the site of the Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge. Kaluhyat, which opened in 2003, is an 18-hole course designed by Robert Trent Jones II. Kaluhyat is the Oneida word for “other side of the sky.”
*Seneca Hickory Stick Golf Course
Seneca Nation
Lewiston, New York
THE SOUTHEAST
Sequoyah National Golf Club, owned by the Eastern Band of Cherokee, occupies a hinge of land where history lives and where most of the routes of the Trail of Tears converged, if only briefly. Here, the Eastern Band of the Cherokee — one of three Cherokee tribes — selected some of the finest places on earth to build their golf course. Oak- and fir-filled, flowered valleys in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains make up home, and to this they added a Robert Trent Jones II design.
“Great golf courses are collaborative: the land, the golfer’s eye, the designer … like an orchestra that is playing the land.” Jones told ICT. “I walk the land, feel it through the soles of my feet. The land itself is teaching me as I walk it. I feel the land through a golfer’s prism.”
Sequoyah hosts a Native golf pro, Carr Crowe. Along with General Manager Brad Adams, the team has put together a thriving culture of golfers. Adams notes that Cherokee members have been playing golf for decades, maybe half a century, decades before the Sequoyah course opened in 2009.
Here are tribally owned golf courses in the Southeastern United States.
Florida
*Miccosukee Golf & Country Club
Miccosukee Tribe
Miami, Florida
Louisiana
*Koasati Pines at Coushatta
Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana
Kinder, Louisiana
*Tamahka Trails Golf Club
The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe
Marksville, Louisiana
Mississippi
*Dancing Rabbit Golf Club
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians
Philadelphia, Mississippi
North Carolina
*Sequoyah National Golf Club
Eastern Band of Cherokee
Whittier, North Carolina
THE MIDWEST
The Firekeeper Golf Course was designed by Jeff Brauer, along with Notah Begay III, and sits an hour west of Kansas City and 20 minutes north of Topeka. Brauer considers Firekeeper his best work, noting the course traverses three distinct environments while creating minimal disturbance to the existing land.
The course, which opened in 2012, is an endeavor of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, while preserving the character of the land.
“The tribe’s main goal was to build a course that stands with the best in Kansas, which it seems most people think we also did, making it a very successful project for my firm,” Brauer said.
Michael Powell, the golf professional, speaks enthusiastically about a planned short course that is being designed by Canadian architect Christine Fraser.
“I’m optimistic that golf will change for its own sustainability in terms of participation and interest,” she said. “How can we make golf smaller? How can we bring the rules, footprint, land, usage of fertilizer, maintenance and budget all back to size while keeping the architecture, vistas and challenge of the game? This will allow social relevance going forward… Equity is always the pursuit.”
Here are tribally owned golf courses in the Midwestern United States.
Kansas
*Firekeeper Golf Course
Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation
Mayetta, Kansas
Michigan
*Lac Vieux Desert Golf Course
Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Indians
Watersmeet, Michigan
*Sweetgrass Golf Club
Sage Run Golf Club
Hannahville Indian Community
Harris, Michigan
*Wild Bluff Golf Course
Bay Mills Indian Community
Brimley, Michigan
*Grand National Golf Club
Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe
Hinckley, Minnesota
*The Meadows at Mystic Lake
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community
Prior Lake, Minnesota
*Mount Frontenac Golf Course
Prairie Island Indian Community
Frontenac, Minnesota
*The Wilderness at Fortune Bay
Bois Forte Band of Chippewa
Tower, Minnesota
Missouri
*Eagle Creek Golf Club
Quapaw Nation
Joplin, Missouri
Nebraska
*Tatanka Golf Club
Santee Sioux
Niobrara, Nebraska
North Dakota
*Dakota Winds Golf Course
Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Band
Hankinson, North Dakota
Oklahoma
*Cherokee Hills Golf Course
Hard Rock Casino & Hotel Tulsa
Cherokee Nation
Tulsa, Oklahoma
*Cherokee Springs Golf Club
Cherokee Trails Golf Club
Cherokee Nation
Tahlequah, Oklahoma
*FireLake Golf Course
Shawnee Tribe
Shawnee, Oklahoma
*WinStar Golf Courses
Chickasaw Nation
Thackerville, Oklahoma
South Dakota
*Spotted Tail Golf Club
Rosebud Sioux
Rosebud, South Dakota
*Thornberry Creek at Oneida
Oneida Nation
Hobart, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
*Pine Hills Golf Course
Stockbridge Munsee Community Mohican Nation
Greshman, Wisconsin
THE SOUTHWEST
Bill Coore worked with acclaimed golfer Ben Crenshaw to design the Talking Stick Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. The two have done designs for two tribal communities, though Coore is careful to point out they worked primarily with construction firms and not directly with tribes.
But the idea that land is sacred came through at both sites.
“Land is such a part of their heritage. … It seems to be that no matter which tribe we worked with, to protect the sacredness of the land, that’s not just a perspective, that was to be part of the operations of the golf course,” Coore told ICT. “That’s been the case in our designs.”
The Talking Stick Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, is owned by the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and managed by Arnold Palmer Golf. It was defined by Bill Coore and acclaimed golfer Ben Crenshaw. Credit: Courtesy Photo
Roy Smith, general manager at Talking Stick, which is managed by Arnold Palmer Golf, makes a similar point, including the fact that the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian community members have their own league, with as many as 60 tribe members taking part.
The club is also one of the Valley’s top locations for golf instruction. The First Tee of Phoenix has a chapter there — the first of its kind on tribal land in Arizona and only the second in the U.S. The club is also home to Vision54, the golf instructional company begun by Lynn Marriott and Pia Nilsson, two renowned golf coaches, and sponsored by one of the game’s all-time great women players – Anika Sorenstam.
Here are tribally owned golf courses in the Southwestern United States.
Arizona
*Talking Stick Golf Club
Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community
Scottsdale, Arizona
*Sewailo Golf Club
Pascua Yaqui Tribe
Tucson, Arizona
*Whirlwind Golf Club
Gila River Indian Community
Chandler, Arizona
*Cocopah RV and Golf Resort
Cocopah/River People
Yuma, Arizona
*We-Ko-Pa Golf Club
Saguaro and Cholla courses
Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation
Fort McDowell, Arizona
*Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club
Ak-Chin
Maricopa, Arizona
New Mexico
*Inn of the Mountain Gods Golf Course
Mescalero Apache
Mescalero, New Mexico
*Isleta Golf Club
Pueblo of Isleta
Albuquerque, New Mexico
*Sandia Golf Club
Pueblo of Sandia
Albuquerque, New Mexico
*Santa Ana Golf Club
Twin Warriors Golf Club
Santa Ana Pueblo
Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico
*Cochiti Golf Club
Cochiti Pueblo
Cochiti Lake, New Mexico
THE WEST
Among the vaunted names in golf course architecture, Clive Clark may not be a household name, though the English golfer and onetime Walker Cup player has designed 33 golf courses in America and Europe. His most recent is Dumbarnie Links, a genuine links course on the western coast of Scotland, near St Andrews.
Clark’s portfolio also includes what many call a masterpiece, Eagle Falls Golf Club in Indio, California. He uses a technique found on many of the great golf courses: privacy between holes.
“Nearly all the holes are individual holes which means that generally a golfer will not see players on other nearby fairways because of the sand dunes we created,” he said. “As a climax to the final hole of the golf course, a large waterfall was constructed to the left of the 18th green which, when running at full pace, has a thunderous, dramatic roar.”
The Eagle Falls golf course is owned by the Cabazon Band of Cahuilla Indians in Indio, California.
Credit: Courtesy photo
Like Talking Stick, this is both a destination course and a course that locals play repeatedly.
“To lift the profile of the course, we introduced wildflowers on the dunes which were largely a colorful variety known as Gazania. Occasionally, as a different kind of highlight, we introduced some patches of annual flowers, being largely Petunia,” Clark said.
“It is also very popular for many locals who are used to playing golf here in the Coachella Valley on courses surrounded by homes on every hole. At Eagle Falls they are instead able to enjoy the beauty.”
As the Cahuilla Band of Mission Indians prepared to get into the golf game, they traveled on a fact-finding trip with Clark to The Hideaway Golf Club in La Quinta. They were convinced.
Here are tribally owned golf courses in the Western United States, including Hawai’i.
California
*Eagle Falls Golf Club
Cabazon Band of Cahuilla Indians
Indio, California
*The Links at Rolling Hills Casino Resort
Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians
Corning, California
*Barona Creek Golf Club
Barona Band of Mission Indians
Lakeside, California
*Eagle Springs Golf & Country Club
Table Mountain Rancheria
Friant, California
*Indian Canyons Golf Resort
Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians
Palm Springs, California
*Journey at Pechanga
Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians
Temecula, California
*Morongo Golf Club at Tukwet Canyon
Morongo Band of Mission Indians
Beaumont, California
*Singing Hills Golf Resort
Oak Glen, Willow Glen, and Pine Glen courses
Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation
El Cajon, California
*Soboba Springs Golf Course
Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians
San Jacinto, California
*Teleli Golf Club
Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians
Sonora, California
*Temecula Creek Golf Club
Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians
Temecula, California
*Whitney Oaks Golf Club
United Auburn Indian Community
Rocklin, California
*Yocha Dehe Golf Club
Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation
Brooks, California
Hawai’i
*Volcano Golf Course
Kamehameha Schools Trust
Volcano, Hawai’i
Idaho
*Circling Raven Golf Club
Coeur d’Alene Tribe
Worley, Idaho
Nevada
*Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort
Las Vegas Paiute Tribe
Las Vegas, Nevada
*Mojave Resort Golf Club
Fort Mojave Indian Tribe
Laughlin, Nevada
Oregon
*Chinook Winds Golf Resort
Chinook Indian Nation
Lincoln City, Oregon
*Ocean Dunes Golf Links
Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians
Florence, Oregon
*Kaha-Nee-Ta Golf Course
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs
Warm Springs, Oregon
*Golf Course at Birch Creek
The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
Pendleton, Oregon
*Wildhorse Resort & Casino Golf Course
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
Pendleton, Oregon
Washington
*Cedars at Dungeness
Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe
Sequim, Washington
*Loomis Trail Golf Course
Lummi Nation
Blaine, Washington
*Salish Cliffs Golf Club
Squaxin Island Tribe
Shelton, Washington
*White Horse Golf Club
Suquamish Tribe
Kingston, Washington
Dr. Mark Wagner is a golf historian and regular contributor to ICT. His book, “Native Links, the Surprising History of Our First People in Golf,” was published by Back Nine Press in 2024. He can be reached at markgwagner@charter.net.
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