Tribes own more than 50 golf courses in 17 states, with more on the way, The New York Times reports.

The Mescalero Apache Nation of New Mexico opened the first golf course in Indian Country in 1975. Since then, tribes across the nation have purchased or created their own greens in hopes of attracting more tourism and leisure dollars to the reservation.

Free from design limitations, tribal courses have been rated among the best in the U.S. On Golf Digest's list of 100 best publicly accessible courses: Twin Warriors Golf Club at Santa Ana Pueblo in New Mexico is ranked 49th, Santa Clara Pueblo's Black Mesa Golf Club is ranked 62nd and the Barona Band of Mission Indians' Barona Creek Golf Club is ranked 93rd.

"I think the tribal courses are probably the single most impressive force in golf architecture over the last 10 years," Ron Whitten, Golf Digest's architecture critic, told The Times. "I've been impressed with every one."

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Teeing Off in Indian Country (The New York TImes 3/17)
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