Mescalero Apache Tribe celebrates 50 years of its Native American Golf course

The Mescalero Apache Tribe in New Mexico celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort and its championship golf course in 2025.

The tribe transitioned into the hospitality and tourism industry in 1963 when then-Tribal Chairman Wendell Chino purchased a nearby ski resort. Chino aimed to combat high unemployment and poverty by creating a destination that would attract summer tourists to the region.

Under Chino's leadership and in collaboration with Peter Khaze and others, the tribe developed a massive complex including a ski and hunting lodge, a convention center, and a casino. They hired designer Ted Robinson Sr. to build a golf course on the Sacramento Mountains. To create a unique landscape, the tribe also built Mescalero Lake, a 144-acre man-made reservoir that serves as the center of the resort.

The golf course, which opened in 1976, is now recognized as the Birthplace of Native American Golf. The resort now features nearly 300 rooms and 38,000 square feet of gaming space. While the tribe maintains its traditional identity through hunting and fishing, Chino championed a concept he called Red Capitalism to build an Indigenous economy.

The success of this early project helped seed a broader Native American golf renaissance, with about 70 tribes now owning and operating their own courses across the country.