by Forrest Richardson
Rediscovered with the 2024 Oscar-winning film Oppenheimer, the Los Alamos National Laboratory sits high among the southern reaches of the Rocky Mountains in the State of New Mexico. In was 1947 when the Atomic Energy Commission constructed an 18-hole course to help attract workers to this remote outpost operated by the U.S. Government. Today, the Los Alamos National Laboratory remains a scientific and engineering hub for nuclear innovation and stability. Its WWII origins are now aligned with “non-proliferation” — an initiative to ensure nuclear capabilities for America and its allies, yet without increasing world supplies.
(1960s advertisement featuring the Los Alamos Golf Course to attract Lab workers)
In 2022, golf architects Todd Schoeder, ASGCA and Forrest Richardson, ASGCA joined forces to help the community return the Los Alamos Golf Course to its once “point of pride” status. The golf course sits just a mile from the Lab’s main entrance, and has been a cherished asset for nearly 80 years. At 7,300 feet above sea level, the c.1947 course is New Mexico’s second oldest and among the highest courses in the U.S. Officially operated by Los Alamos County, the course has always been open to the public with the intent to provide social recreation to the 14,000 workers of the famous Lab, plus the thousands of scientists and contractors who spend time in Los Alamos to support the Lab’s work.
“The original Los Alamos layout was attributed to William H. Tucker, Sr.,” notes Forrest Richardson. “Tucker worked for Willie Dunn in Biarritz, France, and then settled in the States in 1895. There he helped form the original Mt. Hope Course at St. Andrews in Yonkers, New York. He also built courses, including work for Tillinghast.” Richardson serves as an Advisory Member of the USGA’s Museum Committee, and has written extensively on golf architecture, including design history and the evolution of hazards. He admits Tucker is elusive among golf architecture’s early pioneers, referring to him as “One we probably should pay more attention to.” While Tucker’s original site at Los Alamos was abandoned in the mid-1950s, many of his features and style were integrated to form the present 18-hole layout.
(William H. Tucker, Sr., Golf Professional, c. 1900)
Together, Schoeder and Richardson came together to bring back many of the qualities that had been lost to years of tinkering with the course, green committees filling in bunkers and the burden of overcrowding trees. “Our goal was also one to enhance,” says Schoeder. “It was part restoration, but also part adding new design features to the layout. We also wanted to establish a new practice facility, and that meant re-routing a few holes to make room.”
The end result, after two years of planning and another two seasons of construction, is a re-imagined 18-hole course, a widened range and a new 20,000 s.f. short game area. The collaboration put Schoeder in charge of features restoration across the full course, including new tees, added forward tees and a full bunker enhancement program. The course now features 35 bunkers, all rebuilt or added using the Better Billy Bunker system. All green surfaces were renovated, with two new greens integrated to the course. Richardson took on the task of re-routing to make room for new practice areas. Hole Nos. 7 and 8 were reversed to mitigate an adjacent road widening and to improve course flow. The architects shared responsibilities, working to meet a demanding schedule in the seasonal, high-altitude climate.
The remote setting of Los Alamos is by design. J. Robert Oppenheimer (played by Cillian Murphy in the Oscar-winning film) picked out the hilltop site for its security and ability to guard against wartime espionage. Assuredly he was not thinking about a good site for a golf course. But, as luck would have it, the many canyons and plateaus that make Los Alamos remote and hard to access, left ample room for a dramatic golf course. The course winds its way along two canyons, and sports distant views to forested mountains. The predominant trees are Ponderosa and Piñon Pine, the latter being New Mexico’s state tree. “It’s a true Alpine setting,” comments Richardson. “New Mexico is known as the ‘Land of Enchantment,’ which may best describe this remote, hidden gem.”
Set to fully open in Spring of 2026, the 6,800-yard, par-72 ‘new’ layout was constructed by Mid-America Golf with Judge Netting Mountain West as the contractor for range containment netting. The County of Los Alamos self-manages the course and hopes to eventually attract a national tournament — after all, the home of The National Laboratory deserves an equally prestigious golf event after all these years.
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