120 Stagecoach Dr.
Elephant Butte, N.M. 87935
(505) 744-4653
www.sierradelrio.com
Greens fees: $$
18 holes. Par 72. 5,300-7,300 yards. Slope/rating: Open July 2007.
Sierra del Rio is New Mexico’s newest golf course, winding through gentle folds in the native desert terrain, with four ponds and lakes and 89 sculpted bunkers. Part of the larger Turtleback Mountain Resort, Sierra del Rio offers a country-club experience for the daily-fee golfer. True desert-links layout designed by Richard Phelps. Gradual elevation changes across 150 to 200 feet make the course easily walkable. Five teeing grounds on each hole, and several have six. Sierra del Rio is just off Interstate 25 in Elephant Butte. Mild weather encourages year-round play. Site of the inaugural “New Mexico Shootout,” featuring LPGA and LPGA legends in a televised “skins” game. Two hours south of Albuquerque, one hour north of Las Cruces.