I ended up golfing three times over Labor Day weekend, once on Sunday and twice on Monday. Sunday’s round was at Rusted Rail Golf Club which is about 25 minutes from Dallas. I live north of Dallas so it took closer to an hour for me to get there, but the course is surprisingly more convenient to Dallas than it appears on the map.

Recently, I’ve read about some improvements at Rusted Rail and headed over there to check them out. Rusted Rail was formerly known as Creek View Golf Course and owned by the city of Crandall. Some new owners purchased the course in 2017 and have started to breathe life back into the place!

And, from what a couple locals were telling me, the course looks tons better these days than it did. They told me they stopped playing here because conditions got so bad! There are new buildings (a new clubhouse and cart barn), new irrigation lines and conditions are much improved. There is even a very nice courtyard where the course can hold events, like weddings for instance. Construction is ongoing, but the results are showing!

While the conditions were far from pristine, they were playable and worthy of the $38 green fee. If you are looking for a one word description, I’d probably go with “fair”. We’ve got a little rain recently and that seems to have perked up the color of the grass after a hot, dry summer.

The greens were healthy and rolled at a medium slow pace with some bumps. The fairways had good coverage and were left a little long, probably due to the summer heat. The rough was a mix of various grasses and the bunkers could use some new sand.

Rusted Rail is a Dick Phelps design that plays around Buffalo Creek. Overall, the course is fairly easy. Well, as easy as golf can be I suppose! I played the blue tees which are 6,770 yards and only have a rating of 71.8 and slope of 117. After playing here I’m surprised that the rating and slope aren’t higher given all the mid irons I had into the greens! But, I’m not the longest hitter.

Rusted Rail is one of those courses where you can spray it around and is the perfect place to play if you have no idea where the driver is going! The fairways have some width and the greens only have minor slopes to them.

The front nine was my favorite as I thought it had a bit of charm with trees left in strategic places. The trees added to the look and forced me to pick my lines with some care. The par-3 7th is one of those good-looking holes, mostly because of its proximity to Buffalo Creek.

The back nine has more of a wetlands links feel, almost like what you’d find in Florida or near New Orleans. The holes there play back and forth with water in play on many holes. The back also has a good par-3, the 167 yard 13th. The 13th plays across one of the ponds and makes you hit a solid iron if you want to stay out of the water!

Rusted Rail probably isn’t worth the drive from Fort Worth, but if you are within a half hour of the course then I think it is a good one to socialize with your buddies. Plus, there are many holes that can make you feel good about your game. I only see Rusted Rail getting better in the coming years!

Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):