Rio Rancho weighs bringing golf back to former course site
Rio Rancho’s old golf course has become a test of what the city wants next: a revived recreation anchor, or a new mix of homes, shops, and open space.
The real choice in Rio Rancho
Rio Rancho is not just deciding whether to bring golf back. It is deciding whether the former Rio Rancho Golf Course site should once again serve as a public-facing recreation asset, or whether the city has already moved on to a different land-use future built around housing, business, and neighborhood growth.
That choice sits at the center of a long-running civic split. Nearly a decade after the city lost its lone golf course, the vacant land still carries emotional weight for residents who remember it as a place for recreation, youth play, and neighborhood life. At the same time, the site has become one of the clearest examples of how fast-growing Rio Rancho is being forced to weigh nostalgia against what can realistically be built, financed, and maintained.
Why the old course still matters
The Rio Rancho Golf Course and Clubhouse closed in 2016, and three years later the clubhouse burned down in an arson fire. That sequence turned a shuttered amenity into something more final, leaving a large piece of land in limbo and deepening the sense that the city lost more than a business. For many residents, the site is tied to a version of Rio Rancho that feels more open, more neighborly, and more rooted in shared recreation.
A petition circulating around the former course shows how local the issue remains. It has focused on residents living on both sides of the old golf course and clubhouse, which is a reminder that the land is not an abstract planning map. It is part of the daily landscape for nearby neighborhoods, and whatever happens there will shape traffic patterns, views, access, and the character of the surrounding area.
What the current redevelopment would build
The latest version of the site’s future is the Chamisa Hills Master Plan, a roughly 281-acre proposal that would convert the former golf course land into a mixed-use development. The plan calls for houses, a business park, a town center called La Joya de Rio, and open recreational spaces. That mix is important because it shows the debate is not simply golf versus nothing; it is golf versus a broader redevelopment package that would put the land to several uses at once.
That proposal moved through city review in 2025. In April 2025, the Rio Rancho Planning and Zoning Board recommended approval, and the Rio Rancho City Council approved the redevelopment plan later that year. Even with those approvals, neighbors pushed back publicly in April 2025, arguing that the former course should remain open space rather than become dense development.
The plan’s supporters are effectively saying that if the city is going to lose a golf course, the land should at least become active again in a way that responds to housing demand and commercial needs. Opponents are making a different argument: once a large open tract is built out, Rio Rancho may never get a second chance to restore the kind of green, recreational space that once defined the site.
Why a new golf course is a hard sell
The strongest argument against bringing golf back is simple: the region already has a lot of it, and it is not cheap to keep alive. In 2019, Mayor Gregg Hull said there were 18 golf courses within a 20-mile radius of Rio Rancho, a figure that undercuts the idea that the city is lacking access to the game. He also pointed to a City of Albuquerque report estimating that Albuquerque would subsidize its golf courses by about $1.4 million that fiscal year because revenue was not covering operating costs.
That comparison matters because it turns the Rio Rancho debate into a basic financial question. If nearby courses are already struggling to stand on their own, then a new or revived course would have to answer who pays for irrigation, mowing, staffing, repairs, and long-term upkeep. Golf can draw dedicated players and support some local recreation, but the city would need to decide whether the benefit is broad enough to justify the cost.
The earlier idea that the land might be donated to the city also shows how complicated the economics have been. In previous reporting, the owner offered to donate 190 acres of golf-course land to Rio Rancho. Even that kind of offer does not erase the larger question of what the city would then inherit: a major asset, yes, but also an expensive one to restore if golf were to return in any serious form.
Water is part of the civic math
In New Mexico, the golf question cannot be separated from water policy. The Rio Jemez settlement materials list the City of Rio Rancho as a settlement party in a water-supply project context, which makes any large irrigated use more politically sensitive than it would be in a wetter state. A golf course is not just grass and tees here; it is a long-term commitment to water use, maintenance, and public scrutiny.
That is why the debate reaches beyond recreation and into the state’s broader land and water politics. In a dry climate, open space, housing, business parks, and golf all compete for the same scarce ground, and each option carries a different water footprint. A course might offer familiar green space and a local place to play, but it would also have to justify itself in a state where every irrigated acre draws attention.
What Rio Rancho would gain, and what it would give up
If golf returned, the gain would be clear: a recognizable civic amenity, a recreational draw, and a piece of local identity that some residents still miss. It could also restore a use that fits the city’s history and gives nearby neighborhoods a green, public-facing destination.
If the city stays with redevelopment, the gains shift toward more practical growth: homes, a business park, a town center, and preserved open recreational areas. That path may better match population growth and land demand in Sandoval County, but it also means accepting that the former course is no longer going to function as a single, large-scale community golf site.
Rio Rancho’s decision is ultimately about more than one parcel of land. It is a verdict on whether the city wants to spend scarce space and water trying to recreate a lost amenity, or whether the smarter bet is to turn the old course into something that reflects the city it has become.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
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