Birmingham Forest Golf Course Review

Texas Outside Rating: 7.1

Golf - Public Course · 9 Holes · Par 72
Rusk
Website · Locate This Course

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Birmingham Forest Golf Course Review

Birmingham Forest Golf Club is a family owned 9 hole course that is in the rolling hills and piney woods of East Texas in the sleepy town of Rusk. Built in 1967, the course was ranked 35th in the "Best Nine Hole Courses" by the Dallas Morning News and is deserving of it's nickname as "the toughest little course in Texas." The rolling fairways meander around a spring fed lake and through dogwoods, redbuds, and azaleas. All nine holes have four sets of tee boxes, making each hole a little different when you play it twice.

This is a true country course, sometimes known as a pasture course, that starts off slow and gets better as it leads back to the clubhouse. On the first four holes you'll ask yourself "why is this named the toughest little course in Texas," but when you see #5 and the next 4 holes, you'll understand why. For example, #5 (a 479 yard par 5) is a beaut that requires a carry downhill over some rough from an elevated tee box and a precise drive to avoid the creek and pond and ideally land at the bottom of the severely sloping downhill fairway. Survive that and you have to head back uphill and stuff it on a small oval green - and the handicap on this hole is only 8!

Course management and accuracy are required for the last few holes and # 7 is another example of a tough one - a short 338 yard par 4 dog leg right from an elevated tee box. Drive it left, right, or too long and you're in the trees and too short means you can't make the turn. Or you can try the risk reward opportunity and fly the trees, cut off the dog, and shorten the hole, but you need to nail it or you're lost in the woods or in the pond protecting the approach to the green. And #9 is another fun one - a 180 yard par three from an elevated tee box across the natural area and a pond to land on an elevated small turtle top green protected by a huge oak in front - see the top left picture.

 

Like a lot of country courses that are family owned and operated with very tight budgets, the conditions aren't the best. Plus when we played, Birmingham Forest has suffered significant damage from the record October rains. The fairways were very rough and patchy. The greens are small, slow, and hard to hold, so a bump and roll is a good technique to get close to the pin.

 

Overall, we loved this course and can't wait to play it again - conditions aren't the best but it's cheap, challenging, and unique. Mark, (the owner, pro shop attendant, greens keeper, maintenance man, etc.) is a great guy and he and his family live on the course. They have a great story to tell about how he was able to buy the course as it was about to be closed down because the members prepaid their dues to give him the cash for the down payment over 15 years ago.

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Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
White 5,747 68.0 118
Red 5,292 69.0 113

Course Information

Greens Type:
Dwarf Tif
Greens Condition
6.0
GPS:
No
Walkable:
Yes
Beware of water on 4 holes and the 5 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
7.1 out of 10
Beauty:
7.5
Difficulty:
8.0
Variety:
7.0
Fun to Play:
8.0
Value:
8.0
Condition:
4.0
Front Nine Rating:
7.0
Back Nine Rating:
7.0
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FEES & AMENITIES

Approximate Weekend
Rates: $21.00 to $21.00

This is a country course and as such there are limited to no amenities - no pro shop, no food, no pretty cart ladies, and no driving range - but very good friendly service at a great price.

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Here's How Texas Outside Determines the Scorecard Rating

The Texas Outside rating scale ranges from 1 to 10 – a perfect 10 course would be something like this:  links along a cliff overlooking the Pacific ocean and bordered by tall trees; lush fairways on rolling hills with lots of natural hazards; water (which is crystal clear) on most of the holes; immaculate greens (but they are undulating and tough); lots of variety and character (each hole is completely different and includes blind shots, elevation changes, doglegs, and significant challenges); perfectly manicured traps with the whitest and prettiest sand you’ve ever seen; a nice club house with great food and a 19th hole; a GPS; plenty of beverage carts or your own cooler and ice; and it only costs $40 bucks! What this means is that you probably won’t find any 10s in Texas – try Cabo San Lucas, Pebble Beach, or some of the Hawaii courses! 
Texas Outside rates courses on the following:

  • Beauty – tall trees, rolling hills, beautiful houses, waterfalls, and similar stuff would score high; a 1 would be flat, bushes or cactus instead of trees, and some grass but mostly weeds
  • Difficulty – a straight, 300 yard par 4 with no traps or hazards, no out of bounds or water would probably get a 1; if it is a 460 yard par 4 over two ravines, with water along one side, natural hazards on the other, strategically placed traps or that dreaded tree right in the middle of the fairway, we are talking a 10. 
  • Variety – what would you give a course where all the holes looked and played exactly the same (“I thought we just played that hole!”); were side-by-side, which is good for finding or dodging other people’s balls, but not much fun; and you can see the flag from every tee box?  That’s right, it gets a 1.
  • Fun Scale – a 10 is where you walk off the course and say “now that was fun” and you can’t wait to get back, or you immediately turn around and play another 18 holes
  • Value – a 5 is $50 to $60, a 10 is $20 to $30, and 1 is $200 or so – of course all of this is dependent upon how you liked the course.  For example, if a run down, boring municipal course, with six players on each hole was only $10; it would still get a value rating of 1.
  • Condition – this one’s pretty easy – what condition are the fairways. A 10 commands very lush perfectly manicured fairways, compared to a 1, which has fire ants, weeds, and more dirt than grass!
  • Condition of Greens and Difficulty – very hard to read greens with lots of undulation and tough pin placement, rate very high on the difficulty scale.  Condition is self-explanatory.  

All of the above determines the overall score for the golf course.  In other words, we like courses that are pretty, fun, very challenging with a lot of variety, and fairways and greens in excellent condition – all for $40.  We also tend to play the courses that are affordable for the masses, which means in the $30 to $80 range. We rate hard and we haven’t found a 10 in Texas yet – don’t worry we haven’t given up and we’re still looking.