ADO, nestled in the Bear Canyon Arroyo is known for its interesting topography. It was opened in 1965 and in 1981 Golf Digest listed ADO as one of the top 50 municipal courses in the nation. It’s considered the Crown Jewel of the three Albuquerque municipals, and currently my home course! Tony Hildago Jr is both the Director of Golf and Head Professional. The front 9 of this course was freshly aerated, the back nine was being aerated as we played. This presented less than great conditions as there was no roll in the fairways and uncertain bounces (See the photos for a true appreciation). The course is normally in good condition, not as great as it used to be; due to the not so attentive superintendent who transferred from another local course. The greens were very rough with a lot of gravel from sanding. Appears as if they couldn’t find sand without gravel when sanding last year! The practice green was an indication of what was to come, as it also was graveled! The tee boxes were in decent shape. The bunkers had plenty of sand but were unraked. As many as half of the holes didn’t even have rakes. The fairways, well, I have already gone into that. I would have played a different course had I known about the aeration. The fairways are very rolling and undulated and offer lots of uphill, downhill lies. This is the only municipal in Albuquerqe offering this, and when they aren’t plugged, they are fun and challenging to play. I guess I would have to say the overall condition of the course was marginal today at best, which is unusual for ADO. In previous years, the conditions were the envy of many other courses. Green fees and ratings are available in the photo section. Enjoy, but wait a few weeks!
