The Borderland Golf Guide — El Paso, Las Cruces & Ruidoso
The Borderland Golf Guide
Every course within a tank of gas from El Paso — yardages, par, who can play, and what to expect when you get there. 22 courses, three golf towns, one list.
Reading the cards
Yardage is from the back tees unless noted. Most of these courses run four or five sets — the number is the ceiling, not what you should be playing.
Green fee is a recent weekday walking rate where we could confirm one. Rates move with the season, the day, and the cart. Call ahead.
Access tells you whether you can just show up: Public means book a tee time, Private means you need a member, Military means ID at the gate, Resort means open play with a stay-and-play angle.
One number that changes everything
El Paso sits at about 3,700 feet. Las Cruces is close to 4,000. Ruidoso is 6,900 to 7,200.
At El Paso elevation you are already carrying roughly 5–6% further than a sea-level yardage book says. In Ruidoso it's closer to 10%. That is a full club on a mid-iron and more on anything you hit high. The mistake visitors make in Ruidoso isn't the altitude — it's not trusting it, flying the green on the first par 3, and spending the rest of the round second-guessing.
El Paso — Public & daily fee
Home. Nine courses inside the county line and Horizon City, from a $19 county round to a Tom Fazio layout that has hosted professional golf.
Ascarate Golf Course
public6900 Delta Dr, El Paso, TX 79905 · (915) 772-7381 · County-operated
The people's course. Flat, walkable, mature trees, and the cheapest 18 in the county by a wide margin — which is exactly why it's busy. Go early or go weekday. If you learned the game in El Paso, you learned it here.
Painted Dunes Desert Golf Course
public12000 McCombs St, El Paso, TX 79934 · (915) 821-2122 · City-owned
Consistently rated among the best municipal golf in Texas, and it has the hardware to back it up. Three nines on the northeast side let you play a different 18 three days running. Desert target golf — miss it in the scrub and take your medicine.
Butterfield Trail Golf Club
public1858 Cottonwoods, El Paso, TX 79927 · (800) 687-1557 · Tom Fazio design · Owned by El Paso International Airport
The best course in the city you can actually buy a tee time on. Fazio routing through natural desert with bunkering that looks like it was always there. 7,300 yards is a real number — play the tee that matches your game, not your ego.
Lone Star Golf Club
public1510 Hawkins Blvd, El Paso, TX 79925 · (915) 591-4927 · Formerly Cielo Vista Golf Course
Central, which is the whole point — it's the course you can get to on a lunch hour from almost anywhere in town. Older layout, tight tree-lined corridors, and a rename that still hasn't caught on. Half the city still calls it Cielo Vista.
Horizon Golf Club
public16000 Ashford St, Horizon City, TX 79928
The other Horizon City option, and the closest course to GGC's own front door. Straightforward desert layout, friendly pace, local crowd. If you see a 915GOLF™ cap out here, say what's up.
El Paso — Military
Underwood Golf Complex
military3200 Coe Ave, Fort Bliss, El Paso, TX 79906 · Sunrise Course & Sunset Course
Thirty-six holes on Fort Bliss, and genuinely good golf — Sunset is the stronger of the two. Access requires a military ID or a sponsored guest, and you'll clear the gate on the way in. For soldiers, retirees, and families stationed here, this is the best value in the Borderland, full stop.
El Paso — Private clubs
El Paso Country Club
private5000 Country Club Pl, El Paso, TX 79922 · Members and guests only
The oldest club in the city and one of the oldest in Texas. Tree-lined, classic, and in beautiful condition on the west side. Over a century of El Paso golf history is on this property.
Coronado Country Club
private1044 Broadmoor Dr, El Paso, TX 79912 · Members and guests only
West side, up against the Franklins, with mountain views from most of the property. Shorter card, but the elevation changes and small greens defend it. Par 70 here is a good score.
Just across the state line
Santa Teresa Country Club
publicSanta Teresa, NM 88008 · About 20 minutes from west El Paso
Technically New Mexico, functionally an El Paso course — it's closer to the west side than Painted Dunes is. Mature, well-conditioned, and usually wide open. The most underrated round in the Borderland.
Las Cruces, New Mexico
Forty-five minutes up I-10. Bigger, longer, more open golf than El Paso, with three of the four largest layouts in the region.
Red Hawk Golf Club
public7502 Red Hawk Golf Rd, Las Cruces, NM 88012 · (575) 373-8100 · Ken Dye design · Tees from 5,502 to 7,523
The longest course in the region and the best pure test of golf within an hour of El Paso. Ken Dye routing with real width off the tee and serious green complexes. A new clubhouse is slated for spring 2026. Five sets of tees means it's playable for anyone honest about their game.
Sonoma Ranch Golf Course
public1274 Golf Club Rd, Las Cruces, NM 88011 · (575) 521-1818 · Cal Olson, 2000 · ~$32 weekday / ~$36 weekend
The best value in the region and it isn't particularly close. Seven thousand yards of well-kept desert golf for the price of a cart at most places. Organ Mountain views on the back nine are the reason people drive up from El Paso for this one specifically.
NMSU Golf Course
publicNew Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM · Floyd Farley, 1963 · ~$35 weekday / ~$45 weekend
The home of NMSU golf and a genuinely strong Floyd Farley design that has aged well. Mature trees and big, old-school greens — a different flavor from the newer desert courses up the road. Student and alumni rates available.
Picacho Hills Country Club
private6861 Via Campestre, Las Cruces, NM 88007 · Joe Finger design · Members and guests
Up in the hills on the west side of town with elevation changes you don't get anywhere else nearby. Finger's routing uses the terrain hard — very few flat lies.
Las Cruces Country Club
privateLas Cruces, NM · Members and guests only
The city's traditional private club. Walkable, classic, and member-focused — not a course you'll stumble into without an invitation.
White Sands Missile Range Golf Course
militaryWhite Sands Missile Range, NM · Base access required
Nine holes on the installation, east of Las Cruces. Base access and ID required at the gate. A quick, easy loop if you're already on post.
Ruidoso & Alto, New Mexico
Two hours and about 3,200 feet of climb from El Paso. Pines instead of creosote, 70-degree afternoons in July, and a ball that goes places it has no business going.
Play it like a mountain course
Take one less club on anything over 150. Two things nobody warns you about: afternoon thunderstorms build fast in July and August — tee off in the morning — and the greens break hard toward the lowest point on the property, not toward whatever you think you see.
The Links at Sierra Blanca
public105 Sierra Blanca Dr, Ruidoso, NM 88345 · (575) 258-5330 · Jim Colbert, 1991
A true links-style layout at 6,900 feet, which is a strange and excellent combination. Open, rolling, and wind-exposed with the mountain in view from nearly every hole. The best public round in Ruidoso and the one to book if you only get one.
Inn of the Mountain Gods Golf Course
resort287 Carrizo Canyon Rd, Mescalero, NM 88340 · Ted Robinson design · Mescalero Apache Tribe
The most photographed golf in New Mexico, and it earns it — Lake Mescalero, Sierra Blanca behind it, pines everywhere. Robinson built it around the water and the finish is spectacular. Stay-and-play packages make the drive up make sense.
Rainmakers Golf Club
public250 Rainmakers Dr, Alto, NM 88312 · Just north of Ruidoso
Over 7,000 yards at altitude, which plays shorter than the card but climbs and drops constantly. Big elevation changes and wide corridors through the pines in Alto. The most modern design in the area.
Cree Meadows Golf Course
public301 Country Club Dr, Ruidoso, NM 88345 · (575) 257-5815
The friendliest, most walkable round in town. Short card, but the 140-yard par-3 17th over water is the hole everybody talks about on the drive home. Great for mixed-ability groups.
Alto Lakes Golf & Country Club
privateAlto, NM 88312 · Members and guests only
The original Alto Lakes course, cut through heavy pine at altitude. Tight, tree-lined, and shorter than it feels. Member-owned and quietly one of the better mountain layouts in the state.
The Outlaw at Alto Lakes
privateAlto, NM 88312 · Members and guests only
The second and more demanding of the two Alto Lakes courses. Longer, more exposed, and a real step up from the original. Thirty-six holes in one place at 7,000 feet is a rare thing.
Kokopelli Golf Course
public1200 High Mesa Rd, Alto, NM 88312 · Executive-length
An executive course and the right call when you've got three hours, a beginner in the group, or kids. Par 64 and a whole lot of short irons. Don't be surprised when it still beats you.
All 22 at a glance
Yardages are back tees. Rates are recent weekday walking estimates where confirmable — always call ahead.
| Course | Holes | Par | Yards | Access | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Paso, Texas | |||||
| Ascarate | 18 | 71 | 6,579 | Public | 915-772-7381 |
| Painted Dunes | 27 | 72 | 6,941 | Public | 915-821-2122 |
| Butterfield Trail | 18 | 72 | 7,307 | Public | 800-687-1557 |
| Lone Star (Cielo Vista) | 18 | 71 | 6,411 | Public | 915-591-4927 |
| Horizon Golf Club | 18 | — | — | Public | — |
| Underwood (Sunrise/Sunset) | 36 | — | — | Military | — |
| El Paso Country Club | 18 | 71 | 6,889 | Private | — |
| Coronado Country Club | 18 | 70 | 6,485 | Private | — |
| Santa Teresa CC (NM) | 18 | 72 | 6,780 | Public | — |
| Las Cruces, New Mexico | |||||
| Red Hawk | 18 | 72 | 7,523 | Public | 575-373-8100 |
| Sonoma Ranch | 18 | 72 | 7,028 | Public | 575-521-1818 |
| NMSU | 18 | 72 | 7,204 | Public | — |
| Picacho Hills CC | 18 | 72 | ~7,000 | Private | — |
| Las Cruces CC | 18 | — | — | Private | — |
| White Sands Missile Range | 9 | — | — | Military | — |
| Ruidoso & Alto, New Mexico | |||||
| The Links at Sierra Blanca | 18 | 72 | 6,793 | Public | 575-258-5330 |
| Inn of the Mountain Gods | 18 | 72 | ~6,834 | Resort | — |
| Rainmakers | 18 | 72 | 7,000+ | Public | — |
| Cree Meadows | 18 | 71 | 5,864 | Public | 575-257-5815 |
| Alto Lakes G&CC | 18 | 71 | — | Private | — |
| The Outlaw at Alto Lakes | 18 | 72 | — | Private | — |
| Kokopelli | 18 | 64 | ~4,000 | Public | — |
Three rounds, one weekend
Friday afternoon: Sonoma Ranch in Las Cruces on the way north. Cheapest 7,000-yard round you'll ever play.
Saturday morning: The Links at Sierra Blanca, first tee time available, before the weather builds.
Sunday on the way home: Inn of the Mountain Gods, then down the mountain. You'll be back in El Paso for dinner.
915 doesn't need explaining.
Grid Golf Co. builds golf headwear for the places people actually come from. 915GOLF™ is the first market — El Paso, where we live, play, and ship from.
Veteran-owned. Built in the 915.
Shop 915GOLF™Course details compiled from public course information as of October 2026. Yardages, par, rates, hours, and access policies change — call ahead before you drive. Private clubs are listed for completeness and require member sponsorship. Military courses require valid ID or an authorized sponsor. Grid Golf Co. is not affiliated with any course listed in this guide.