There's a new age of golf in New Mexico

Georgia O'Keeffe knew a good thing when she painted it, and paint she did -- a magical landscape called northern New Mexico. Today, strokes of a different form are in order, and for sun-bleached desert golfers accustomed to Vegas or Phoenix or La Quinta, a New Mexico getaway is the equivalent of having three guys surnamed Woods, Woods and, um, Woods filling out your best-ball foursome. The prices are astonishing, the golf is righteous and the weather is superb. And that altitude? Hitting a 9-iron 156 yards uphill to a back-left hole tucked behind enough bad stuff to make Odysseus flinch is never a bad thing.

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Paa-Ko Ridge Golf Club

1 Clubhouse Drive, Sandia Park

(866) 898-5987, www.paakoridge.com

What's notable: The highest-rated course in the state, many say.

What's cool: It's a tossup between the vistas and the golf itself.

What it costs: $59 to $114 (Summer 2009 nonresident 18-hole adult rates)

Who designed it: Ken Dye

Paa-Ko is the type of course any avid golfer, regardless of ability, would be satisfied to play daily, though it devours a larger-than-usual number of balls. The course darts in, out and about the juniper and pine woodland, with nothing flat or boring or typical. The perched greens are a thing to behold, while a newer nine introduces Western mountain rangeland into the equation. It also offers more than the standard number of holes (27). In a word: joyful.

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Pueblo de Cochiti Golf Course

5200 Cochiti Highway, Cochiti Lake

(505) 465-2239, www.golfcochititoday.com

What's notable: No urban intrusions. Not a one.

What's cool: Locals call it "Heaven with a ZIP Code."

What it costs: $28 to $62

Who designed it: Robert Trent Jones II

Whereas Paa-Ko is of the mountains, Cochiti is textbook New Mexico -- high desert and pinyon, mountains on every horizon,

cobalt sky, marshmallow creme clouds. The course is rife with Jones family imprimaturs -- room to roam off the tee and strategic short par 4s. It is rumored a 14-handicap recently played Cochiti, shooting a 39 on the front nine and tallying a total of 90 and he didn't even get mad. Land of Enchantment indeed.

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Black Mesa Golf Club

115 State Road 399, Espanola

(505) 747-8946, www.blackmesagolfclub.com

What's notable: Picture the Dakota badlands, with a golf course draped over them.

What's cool: The road there goes through Santa Fe (tip: Cafe Pasqual's).