I finally have to chime in and give a few more facts of Blackhawk.
First off.
Thanks Andrew for posting the pictures and giving a personal perspective of Blackhawk!
After 6 years of tweaking Blackhawk, I must share some thoughts gained at dealing with the construction and maintenance of Blackhawk.
1. Bob- You are right, the cart paths are very rarely seen from the tees(especially the back tees). Rod did not route the cart paths until the course was completed. They are not necessarily constructed and routed for "the golfer" but are routed for the view from our back tees. He did not want any paths in view from the tee but this also makes for some very long walks if and when we keep carts on the paths. A quick fact for the GCA is that 98% of golfers take a cart at Blackhawk because of the elevation changes. Walking is not encouraged due to slow play.
2. All par 3's play in a different direction. Depending on the direction of the wind, you are always contemplating what club to hit from the certain yardage. I think this was a great design feature as too many courses have par 3's all the same yardage and all the same direction of play. Off the top of my head, the pro yardages on the par 3's are 185, 165,205, 235,and 170. What a great variety.
3. You can hit your driver on every par 4 and 5 at Blackhawk. This is a good thing. It may not be recommended on #10 but it is still an option.
4. There is no fairway bunkers that come into play on 4 of your 8 tee shots on par 4's and 5's. Very fun for the average golfer.
5. 2 of the 5 par 3's have no bunkers at all and are still extremely challenging.Good luck on #16.
6. I try to keep the greens running at 9-10 on the stimp most of the year and the ground game is the most important aspect for any golfer to master at Blackhawk.
7. Most greens surface drain in a minimum of 3 directions. In 6 years of working the course, I have never had to squeegy a green or remove water besides in the winter months regardless of the amount of rain.
8. There are only a handfull of spots that HOLD water during a heavy rain. Rod's attention to surface drainage was brilliant.
9. Jeff and John did construct 95% of the bunkers on the course and are a pleasure to maintain. We weedeat the lower edges only 4 times/year and keep the maintenance and costs to a minimum. We have never had to pump out any bunker after a rain.
10. It is true, the course was constructed for under 2 million dollars(irrigation in) and is consistently ranked in the top echelon in western canada. This is a true testament to Rod and Jeff's philosophy of golf course design.
11. We had a two day pro series a few years back and the holes that ranked the toughest were #1 and #9. We find this strange that they are both par 4's under 400 yards. The obvious challenge must be around and on the greens.. Strange but true fact.
There are some features that are extremely tough to maintain because of the design but we deal with it. We have damaged 3 mowers that have dropped in the water on holes #11 and #16 greens but try to train and educate the staff on the importance of keeping the design and learning to modify our mowing practices.
Blackhawk is a pleasure to maintain. We can mow the whole golf course in under 5 hours with our current equipment. The current membership loves it because they never see a piece of equipment on the course because we are done by 10 AM. Again, a great testament to Rod. We operate on a budget of $450,000 due to minimal grass to mow, water,maintain and fertilize. It is brillant design. Not many people complain when playing Blackhawk. It is a true enjoyment for golfers of all levels and capabilities.
If anyone has questions, please fire away and I will be pleased to answer. Anyone who wants to play Blackhawk, I encourage you to contact me directly and I will go out of my way to give you a good experience.
Sharpee
Superintendent
Blackhawk Golf Club