No joke: Butterfield Trail Golf Club in El Paso ranks among the best in the country

I’m often asked of all the golf courses I’ve been fortunate enough to play in the last few years, what are my favorites?

Besides the usual list, which would include courses like Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill, which I got to play during this week’s trip to the California Monterey Peninsula, I throw in a sleeper of sorts – Butterfield Trail Golf Club in El Paso, Texas.

Some folks have heard of Butterfield Trail; many have not. But this 2007 splendid Tom Fazio design is starting to gain notoriety, and it seems I’m certainly not the only one impressed. In the new list of top 50 municipal courses by Golfweek Magazine, Butterfield Trail just made its debut at No. 3 behind U.S. Open courses Bethpage Black in New York and Chambers Bay (2015) in Tacoma, Wash.

Butterfield Trail replaced the San Diego area’s Torrey Pines South, another U.S. Open venue, at No. 3, and is ranked ahead of a host of other really good munis like the TPC Scottsdale Stadium Course and Harding Park in San Francisco.

Butterfield trail is owned by the El Paso International Airport. It was built to attract golfers to the city with idea that El Paso could grow a golf destination around it. You can check out my review on Butterfield here, and the photo gallery we posted shows some pretty impressive shots of this big golf course with no homes on it.

I spent my formative years in El Paso and understand that it’s in the middle of nowhere. But honestly, a golf weekend at Butterfield Trail might pleasantly surprise you. Plus, if you like Mexican food and margaritas, El Paso has some of the best in the country and certainly in Texas.