River Crest Country Club

River Crest Country Club opened on May 6, 1911, as Fort Worth's first private golf course and the eighth country club in Texas. Conceived by a group of local cattlemen, merchants, executives, bankers, developers, and lawyers, it pioneered the integration of a residential development on club grounds, with the River Crest Company acquiring a 629-acre tract in 1910 to fund the venture. The original 6,368-yard layout was designed by Tom Bendelow, the prolific Scottish-American architect known as the Johnny Appleseed of American Golf for creating over 600 courses, and A.W. Tillinghast, renowned for classics like Winged Foot and Bethpage Black. Subsequent redesign work was done by Williams, Gill & Associates in 1996, with upgrades by Colligan Golf Design.

The course has hosted golf legends including Ben Hogan, who practiced there while recovering from his 1949 car accident, Byron Nelson, a regular member, and Babe Didrikson Zaharias, who took lessons and inspired the Texas Women's Open tournament held at the club from 1935 to 1955. Homegrown talents Polly Riley and Aniela Goldthwaite represented the U.S. in Curtis Cup play. The club has no recorded previous names but suffered clubhouse fires, including one in 1981 leading to a Postmodern redesign by Taft Architects in 1984. A major clubhouse renovation and expansion occurred in 2011-2012. Scenes from the Ben Hogan biopic Follow the Sun were filmed on site, and it features in Dan Jenkins novels. Multi-generational membership underscores its role as a family social hub.