Butterworth played his first tournamentat the 1880 Wimbledon Championships where he reached the semi-finals stage, before losing to Herbert Lawford.

[2] The same year he won his first title at the Gloucestershire Lawn Tennis Tournament held at Montpellier Gardens, Cheltenham, and played on grass and asphalt courts.

He then played at the West of England Championships at Bath and won the title against his brother Alexander Kaye Butterworth.

[2] He then travelled to Ireland to play at the Waterford Annual Lawn Tennis Tournament where he won his fifth and final title against Irishman Frederick William Knox.

In 1884 he played one event in Ireland where he failed to defend his Waterford title losing Frederick Knox in straight sets.