Getting To Know: Pinon Hills Golf Course

An Insightful Interview With Luke Tanner, Head Golf Professional

By Brian Weis

Whether you have played a course 20+ times a year or looking to play the course for the first time, insights from an insider can help enhance your golf experience. Below is an interview with Luke Tanner who shares some valuable tidbits about the course, memorable holes and must eats and treats at the 19th.

Give Our Readers An Overview of the Golf Course/Property
Pinon Hills is a municipal golf course located in Farmington, New MexicoPinon Hills is set in a high desert landscape with native pinon and juniper trees. There is plenty of natural elevation change. The greens are large and multi-tiered. We are consistently ranked near the top for municipal golf courses.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
Pinon Hills is consistently ranked near the top for municipal golf courses as well as a top golf course in New It is a challenging, yet fair course set in a high desert landscape. We have very reasonable rates and the golf course is always in great shape.

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
Keep the ball in the fairway. The fairways are wide, but off the fairways there is a lot of native area that is very penalizing. The greens are tiered, so being on the same tier as the cup is helpful.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
We are always ranked in the top ten in municipal courses in the country. We are also always in the top five courses in the state.

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
Our signature hole is number 6. It is a par 3 set at the bottom of a small canyon with large sandstone rocks around the back of the green that easily come into play.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
Numbers 3 and 18. These are long par 4's that require a good long iron approach shot. Practice hitting long irons into difficult greens.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
Pinon Hills burger. It is a burger with green chiles and cheese.

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score?
Me! Luke Tanner. 62. 10 birdies, 8 pars. Didn't hit it any better than normal, but putted better than I ever have.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 7198
Slope: 139
Rating: 73.9

More Information
Pinon Hills Golf Course
2101 Sunrise Parkway
Farmington, New Mexico, 87402
505-326-6066
www.pinonhillsgolf.com

Revised: 11/22/2015 - Article Viewed 32,053 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.