New Mexico
Ruidoso & Southeast New Mexico Golf Courses & Tee Times
Ruidoso is mountain golf under Sierra Blanca. Most courses are open spring through fall, and summer is the season. The Links at Sierra Blanca, at 6,900 feet, is the public course in town and stays open all year, weather permitting. Cree Meadows is the oldest course in Lincoln County. Down the hill, Alamogordo's Desert Lakes plays all year, and up in Cloudcroft the Lodge has run a nine-hole course since 1899.
Can't get a tee time in Ruidoso & Southeast New Mexico? Yoink watches 7 public courses, from Alamogordo, Mescalero, Roswell, Alto and Cloudcroft. Pick your courses, set the day and time you want, and get a notification when a tee time opens, cancellations included.
The longest layout here is Links at Sierra Blanca at 6,757 yards.
Who runs public golf in Ruidoso & Southeast New Mexico
We found no county or state golf system here. The Links at Sierra Blanca is the daily-fee public course in Ruidoso, built on the old Ruidoso regional airport site with a links-style front nine and a forest back nine; it runs a First Tee program. Cree Meadows is a country club course, and Inn of the Mountain Gods is the Mescalero Apache resort course on the reservation, which has hosted the Buy.com Tour and the New Mexico Open. Rainmakers in Alto, a Robert Trent Jones II design that was members only, now opens to the public seven days a week in summer.
Public courses worth knowing in Ruidoso & Southeast New Mexico
- Links at Sierra Blanca: Ruidoso's public course, open all year at 6,900 feet, on the old Ruidoso regional airport site.
- Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort: Mescalero Apache resort course that bends around Mescalero Lake, and a past host of the Buy.com Tour and the New Mexico Open.
- The Lodge Golf Course: Established in 1899 at 9,000 feet in Cloudcroft. A nine-hole course played twice from different tees and flags, and it celebrated its 125th season in 2024.
- Rainmakers Resort and Club: Robert Trent Jones II design in Alto, once members only, now open to the public seven days a week in summer.
- Desert Lakes Golf Course: Alamogordo's public course at the foot of the Sacramento Mountains, remodeled in 1996-97 by Williams & Gill, with water on 11 holes and golf all year.
Booking tee times in Ruidoso & Southeast New Mexico: the local rules
Summer is the busy season, and the Links' golf director has said racing season brings a wave of Texans. The Links takes daily tee times; resort courses take the public by reservation. Most Ruidoso courses run spring through fall, while Desert Lakes in Alamogordo stays open all year.
Yoink
Know the rules. Let Yoink do the waiting.
Booking windows decide who gets first pick. After that, times come back one at a time as plans change. Yoink watches all 7 courses in Ruidoso & Southeast New Mexico and tells you when a time that fits comes back, so you're not refreshing the page all week.
7 courses in Ruidoso & Southeast New Mexico
Other
Links at Sierra Blanca
Jim Colbert and Jeff Bauer built it in 1991 on the village's old airport: links-style mounds on the front nine, tall pines on the back. Open all year.
Nancy Lopez Golf Course at Spring River
The front nine plays 283 yards longer than the back — the long par three plays 227 yards.
Why tee times in Ruidoso & Southeast New Mexico are hard to get
The season in Ruidoso & Southeast New Mexico runs roughly from spring to late fall. The first warm weekends in spring and the cool, dry weekends of fall are the hardest to book.
Most public courses open their tee sheet a set number of days ahead, often 7 to 14, and many municipal courses give residents or card holders an earlier window. The best weekend-morning times usually go the day they're released. Leagues and outings take blocks of the sheet before the public ever sees them.
When tee time cancellations happen
A full tee sheet rarely stays full. Many courses let you cancel without a fee up to 24 or 48 hours before your time, so spots tend to reappear in the last couple of days. A bad forecast shakes more loose, and a foursome that drops to three opens a single. None of it is announced. The time just shows up again on the booking page, and whoever looks first gets it.
How to get a tee time in Ruidoso & Southeast New Mexico
Yoink
Every course in Ruidoso & Southeast New Mexico on one watchlist: all 7 of them
Yoink checks all 7 courses in Ruidoso & Southeast New Mexico every few minutes, so every open time is in one place and you're the first to know when one that fits your day, window and group appears, cancellations included.
Doing it by hand? Here's what works.
- Know the booking window. Find out how many days ahead each course releases times, and whether residents get an earlier window. Be ready the morning it opens.
- Look again 24 to 48 hours out. That's when most cancellation deadlines pass and spots come back.
- Be flexible on group size. Singles and twosomes fit into gaps a foursome can't.
- Try twilight and weekday afternoons. They're the last to fill and often cheaper.
- Widen the map. If your first choice is full, check the next town over. Alamogordo has 1 courses on Yoink and Mescalero has 1.
Read the full guide to getting a tee time when everything's booked
Tee times in Ruidoso & Southeast New Mexico: questions
How do I get notified when a tee time opens up in Ruidoso & Southeast New Mexico?
Set a watch in Yoink for the courses you want, the days you can play, a time window and the number of players. Yoink checks those tee sheets every few minutes and sends a notification as soon as a matching time appears, cancellations included. You book it directly with the course.
When do tee time cancellations usually show up?
Mostly in the 24 to 48 hours before the tee time, as golfers cancel ahead of the course's cancellation deadline, and whenever the weather forecast changes. They appear without notice and tend to be rebooked quickly.
How far in advance can you book a tee time in Ruidoso & Southeast New Mexico?
It depends on the course. Many public courses open bookings 7 to 14 days ahead, and town or county courses often give residents an earlier window. Each course's own booking page has its policy.
When is golf busiest in Ruidoso & Southeast New Mexico?
Demand is highest on spring and fall weekends. Weekend mornings are always the hardest tee times to get.
Does Yoink book the tee time for me?
No. Yoink tells you when a time opens; you book it with the course on its own booking page, at the course's price, with no extra fee.
More golf in New Mexico
- Albuquerque & Santa Fe · 10 courses
- Las Cruces & Southern New Mexico · 7 courses
- More New Mexico · 8 courses
Sources
Facts on this page come from these pages, checked 2026-09-28. Rates and booking rules change, so confirm with the course.
- discoverruidoso.com · tourism
- visitruidoso.com · media
- 223collectionhotels.com · official
- desertlakesgolf.com · official
Tee times in Ruidoso & Southeast New Mexico, without the refreshing
Watch as many courses as you like. When a time opens that fits your day, window and group, Yoink tells you first.