SANTA ANA PUEBLO, NM – In the fall of 2021, the PGA of America announced that two celebrated golf facilities in the Southwest – Twin Warriors Golf Club at Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa and Santa Ana Golf Club, both in Santa Ana Pueblo, NM – will host the 2022 Senior PGA Professional Championship, Oct. 13-16, 2022.
The Senior PGA Professional Championship features a 264-player field of 50 and over PGA professionals from across the nation, with the low 35 scorers earning a berth in the 2023 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship to be contested at PGA Frisco in Frisco, TX.
It was then announced that Twin Warriors Golf Club would host the 2022 Women’s PGA Cup – the premier international competition for women PGA Club Professionals – October 24-29, 2022.
“I think it speaks volumes that, in the last five weeks, we have awarded two of our significant Member Championships to be played in 2022 – the Senior PGA Professional Championship and the Women’s PGA Cup – to Twin Warriors and Santa Ana,” said Jim Richerson, PGA of America President. “We hold Santa Ana Golf Club in very high regard and are confident our senior PGA Members will enjoy the challenge and scenery that come with playing golf in the state of New Mexico.”
Recently, the PGA of America announced that Twin Warriors Golf Club and Santa Ana Golf Club will host the 2023 PGA Professional Championship, April 30-May 3. The 2023 PGA Professional Championship will be the third PGA of America Member event to be staged at Twin Warriors. Twin Warriors has previously hosted a variety of notable events, including the PGA Professional Championship in 2003 and 2009.
The PGA Professional Championship features a 312-player field, drawn from across the nation. The low 20 scorers earn a berth in the 2023 PGA Championship, which will be contested just weeks later on the East Course at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, NY.
“The PGA Professional Championship is the premier event for PGA Members,” said Richerson. “It is the largest all-professional national event in golf and to return it to Twin Warriors and Santa Ana Golf Club for the third time in 20 years is a testament to the degree of hospitality our PGA Professionals receive in the Sun Country PGA Section. Through the leadership of PGA General Manager Derek Gutierrez and his staff, we know the level of service, as well as the on-course challenges that come with these two spectacular layouts, will yield a world class experience for all the participants.”
Located at the foot of the Sandia Mountains just a mile apart, Twin Warrior and Santa Ana Golf Club are both critically acclaimed, while featuring very different designs. Twin Warriors Golf Club, designed by Gary Panks and opened in 2001, plays through the high desert and is routed in and around 20 ancient cultural sites. Other attributes include beautiful grassy knolls, ridges dotted with Juniper and Pinon Pine, dry washes (arroyos) and eroded land features, along with the sacred butte known as Tuyuna or “Snakehead.”
Heralded for its links style, Santa Ana Golf Club was designed by Ken Killian and former PGA Tour Player Ken Green. At just over 7,300 yards and overlooking the Rio Grande River, Santa Ana couples significantly mounded border fairways with minimal forced carries from the tee. The course, which opened in 1991, has very little elevation change; severely sloping greens serve as its greatest defense.
“These two scenic and challenging Santa Ana Pueblo layouts at Santa Ana Golf Club and Twin Warriors Golf Club will provide tremendous arenas for talented PGA Professionals from our 41 Sections,” said Derek Gutierrez, PGA General Manager/Director of Golf at Santa Ana Golf Club. “It is always exciting to host competitors playing these two layouts for the first time, and we are thrilled to welcome back a number of players returning from the PGA Professional Championships in 2003 and ‘09.”
