The PGA of America announced that two of the most celebrated golf facilities in the SouthwestーTwin Warriors Golf Club at Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa and Santa Ana Golf Club, both in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexicoーwill host the 2022 Senior PGA Professional Championship, October 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, Texas.
“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,” 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.”
Located at the foot of the Sandia Mountains, Twin Warriors and Santa Ana Golf Club are critically acclaimed layouts conveniently located a mile from each other, but their designs are quite different.
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 true 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, but severely sloping greens serve as its greatest defense.
Last month, the PGA of America announced that the 2022 Women’s PGA Cup would be played at Twin Warriors, which has previously hosted a variety of notable events and tournaments, including the PGA Professional Championship in 2003 and 2009.
“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 senior PGA Professionals from our 41 Sections,” said Derek Gutierrez, PGA General Manager/Director of Golf at Santa Ana Golf Club, Inc. “It is always exciting to host competitors playing these two layouts for the first time, and we’re also thrilled to welcome back a number of players returning from the PGA Professional Championships in 2003 and ‘09.”
