Texas
El Paso Golf Courses & Tee Times
El Paso is a big city with a short list of public courses, and most of them sit in open Chihuahuan Desert with the Franklin Mountains in view. The standout is Butterfield Trail, a Tom Fazio design near the airport that Golfweek's 2013 Best Municipal list ranked No. 1 in Texas and No. 3 in the nation. Each hole is named for a stop on the old Butterfield Overland Mail route. Beyond it you have the Ascarate municipal course, a parkland course, a 27-hole desert facility on the north side and a pair of Army courses at Fort Bliss.
Good weekend tee times in El Paso go fast, and the ones that come back later (cancellations, groups that shrink) aren't announced. Yoink watches the tee sheets at 5 public courses here, and tells you the moment a time you want opens up.
The longest layout here is Butterfield Trail Golf Club at 7,307 yards.
Who runs public golf in El Paso
Public golf here is a mix of owners rather than one city golf division. El Paso International Airport owns Butterfield Trail and Lone Star Golf Club, the former Cielo Vista, according to a GolfPass feature. Ascarate, on Delta Drive, is the municipal course and is open year round. Painted Dunes has 27 holes in East, West and North nines. At Fort Bliss, the Underwood complex runs the desert Sunrise Course and the parkland Sunset Course through Army MWR.
Public courses worth knowing in El Paso
- Butterfield Trail Golf Club: Tom Fazio design, par 72 at 7,307 yards with more than 55 feet of elevation change. Golfweek's 2013 Best Municipal list had it No. 1 in Texas and No. 3 nationally. Cart is included in the green fee.
- Lone Star Golf Club: A Marvin Ferguson design from 1975, flat and tree-lined, with a lighted range and lighted short-game greens for evening practice.
- Painted Dunes Desert Golf Course: 27 holes by Ken Dye and Jeffrey Brauer below the Franklin Mountains. Visit El Paso says Golf Digest ranked it the second-best municipal course in the nation in 1991.
- Ascarate Golf Course: The central El Paso municipal course: 18 holes, 6,565 yards, open year round.
- Sunrise Golf Course - Underwood Golf Complex: The desert-style course at Fort Bliss's Underwood complex, paired with the parkland Sunset Course.
Booking tee times in El Paso: the local rules
Most El Paso courses book online or by phone with no published resident window. Underwood at Fort Bliss is the exception to know. Tee times are by phone, and weekend and holiday times go by lottery, with requests due by 4:30 p.m. the Wednesday before. Active-duty golfers get priority, and a lottery group needs at least two of them. Everyone is off the course by 5:30 p.m.
Yoink
The window opens once. Cancellations happen all week.
Booking windows decide who gets first pick. After that, times come back one at a time as plans change. Yoink watches all 5 courses in El Paso and tells you when a time that fits comes back, so you're not refreshing the page all week.
5 courses in El Paso
Other
Ascarate Golf Course
George Hoffman's 1955 layout: generous tree-lined fairways, then a back nine with water in play and a stretch the members call Hell's Corner.
Butterfield Trail Golf Club
Tom Fazio's desert course on airport land: natural sand dunes, 55-plus feet of elevation change, and every hole named for a Butterfield Overland Mail stop.
Horizon Golf Course
Horizon Golf Course is an 18-hole regulation course in Texas, playing to par 70 across 6,759 yards.
Lone Star Golf Club
Marvin Ferguson's 1975 layout: flat, lined by 1,300 mature trees, with three lakes and Franklin Mountains views. The range and practice greens are lit.
Sunrise Golf Course - Underwood Golf Complex
Fort Bliss's desert course: par 72 and 6,942 yards from the gold tees. Weekend times go by lottery, with active-duty groups first.
Why tee times in El Paso are hard to get
Spring and fall are peak season in El Paso. In summer the heat pushes everyone toward early morning, so the first few hours of the day fill before anything else.
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 El Paso
Yoink
All 5 courses in El Paso, watched for you around the clock
Pick the courses you'd play and Yoink keeps an eye on all 5 courses in El Paso. You see what's open in one place, and you hear about it the moment a time that fits your day, window and group turns up, 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.
Read the full guide to getting a tee time when everything's booked
Tee times in El Paso: questions
How do I get notified when a tee time opens up in El Paso?
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 El Paso?
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 El Paso?
Demand is highest in spring and fall, and early in the morning in summer. 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 Texas
- Dallas–Fort Worth · 83 courses
- Houston · 53 courses
- San Antonio · 35 courses
- Austin · 34 courses
- East Texas · 21 courses
- Waco & Central Texas · 15 courses
- Lubbock & West Texas · 13 courses
- Rio Grande Valley & Coastal Bend · 13 courses
- Amarillo & the Panhandle · 7 courses
- Paris, Texarkana & Northeast Texas · 6 courses
- Lake Texoma & Southern Oklahoma · 1 courses
- More Texas · 11 courses
Sources
Facts on this page come from these pages, checked 2026-09-28. Rates and booking rules change, so confirm with the course.
- butterfieldtrailgolf.com · official
- butterfieldtrailgolf.com · official
- butterfieldtrailgolf.com · official
- en.wikipedia.org · media
- golfpass.com · media
- lonestargolfclub.com · official
- painteddunes.com · official
- visitelpaso.com · official
- bliss.armymwr.com · official
- txga.org · association
Tee times in El Paso, 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.