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"In this park - I mean golf course . . ."

Those words, misspoken at first by Bernalillo County Commissioner Deanna Archuleta, hit right on the screws. She uttered them Sunday while standing on a pickup truck bed in a parking lot across the fence from the University of New Mexico North Course.

It was the site of a massive throng marching against potential development that may - or may not - eliminate the golf course.

Not many of those who came looked like they'd be hauling the sticks out of their trunk at Paa-Ko anytime soon. So why the interest?

Easily the greenest of green spaces in the city's core, UNM North essentially belongs to everyone. It's the only park - excuse me, golf course - that isn't used only for its intended purpose.

And that's why the crowd, replete with elected officials, TV cameras and interested parties who live not even close to walking distance were there.

That's the thing about the course, and the reason more than 800 people signed a petition to show UNM that it's about more than birdies and pars.

I've seen some most interesting things there as a golfer.

Describing a round of golf at UNM North can border on the fantastical. The first time I played it, there was a sloshed dude sitting cross-legged in the tee box on number four like he owned it. No one else in our group, course veterans, seemed to even notice him.

I did. And proceeded to snap hook a three wood that, if it had made it through the chain-link fence, likely would have dropped one of the joggers on the other side.

That was the beginning of my love affair with the place, which includes the dogs running wild, Frisbee games, kids sneaking on to play, and anything else you could imagine not happening on a golf course.

Lt. Gov. Diane Denish was there Sunday. A nearby resident for more than 20 years, she told the crowd she had spoken with UNM Regent Jamie Koch and that he said there are no plans for any development that would take the course.

City Councilor Ike Benton brought a reality check not a few minutes later, reminding the crowd that the university is going to grow and that there should be some community planning involved.

Good idea. Because history is not good here.

Many years ago, the course was 27 holes. And then it was 18. And then it was nine. There are no other configurations left, except zip.

I was interested in what some duffers across the fence felt about it all. They didn't disappoint me.

Ifa Jaha discovered the game 10 years ago through a friend. A black woman, street blues musician, reiki practitioner and courier, she considers herself a student of the game, if not an early skeptic.

"Golfers drink and whisper. That isn't a sport," she remembered thinking. "But then I played."

A Downtown denizen, she regrets that she doesn't live closer to the course.

"The trees are magnificent," she said. "That's the thing about it. It would be a shame to lose this open space."

It's almost unimaginable at this point that at one time the course hosted legendary golf figures like Hogan, Demarest, Watson, Nicklaus, Kite and Miller. Titans all, but as green spaces have shrunk, the utility of the course has expanded. It's morphed into something more meaningful than just golf.

North Campus Neighborhood Association leader Sara Koplik called it, "Albuquerque's Central Park."

It's a buffer, a place to breathe and get quiet. Ironically, even those who don't play golf honor the aspect players love most: courtesy.

And that's the thing about UNM North. The elbow room we allow ourselves. There's a divinity at work. It's bigger than any individual. Or institution. How do you put a land value on that?