Blackhawk Golf Club

Review of Blackhawk Golf Club – Pflugerville, TX

Charles Howard and three time US Women's Open champion Hollis Stacey designed a fairly traditional and straightforward links style course (without the normal huge fairway mounds found on most links courses) in Pflugerville that opened in 1990.  In 2011 OnCourse Strategies, who has a portfolio of courses in Texas, bought Blackhawk and started making significant changes to improve the course conditions and playability.  Some of the changes included: redoing all of the irrigation; re-sodding over 12 acres; removing and redoing some of the bunkers; major work on the tee boxes (they had no grass at all in 2011); improved the turf grass coverage from 25% to 95%, and replaced 4 bridges. 

With 4 sets of tee boxes and yardages ranging from 5507 to 7072 you need to make sure you pick the right tee box and don't bite off more than you can chew.  The course can be demanding thanks to:

• it plays longer than the yardage on the card due to the wind and some minor elevation changes
• the 46 bunkers are strategically placed in the fairways and particularly around the greens
• water can come into play on 13 holes
• you'll need to be proficient in a variety of clubs

Most of the fairways are wide and forgiving off the tee box but you need to manage the wind direction and speed (it's usually blowing pretty good) which can change your club selection and the way you'll have to play the course. The 11 ponds and the creeks that cross the fairways on four holes can add several stokes to your round if you tend to spray the ball or not play strategically to avoid the water. 

Most of the holes on the front nine are pretty straightforward and you can see the pin from the tee box, but you may not see the creek or the bunkers guarding the greens.  This is a nine where you can turn in a good score if you play smart and manage the wind.  Some of the holes we liked on this nine include:

• #2 is a 504 yard par 5 with a creek cutting across the front of the green which is set off to the left side of the fairway
• #5 is a 199 yard par three that demands an accurate shot to avoid the pond on the left and the 3 bunkers surrounding the green
• #9 is a blast and the #1 handicap – a slight downhill tee shot that needs to avoid the water on the left and the bunker and pond on the right and then a shot across the creek to a slight dog leg right green

We liked the back nine at Blackhawk Golf Club a lot more than the front – it has a little more variety and character, the greens seemed a little more challenging, club selection and course management are needed, and there are some great holes like:

• #13 is a 533 yard par 5 dog leg left with a very challenging approach shot – a pond on each side of the fairway leading to a green that's guarded by a left and right side bunker
• #17 is a fun hole – a 551 yard par 5 that takes a sharp turn right at a pond (long drives will get wet) than a slight uphill climb to a green with two big bunkers guarding the front – off the tee you'll have an excellent risk reward shot to significantly shorten the hole if you think you can avoid a mound with a couple trees and stay out of someone's backyard
• you'll want to play 17 again and 18 is just as good – a long 430 yard par 4 with a sharp dog leg right with water on both sides of the fairway where it turns right to the green – your drive needs to be very accurate, if you're long you're wet or if you spray it right you're in trouble

Most of the fairways are wide open off the tee and ample the rest of the way to the pin.  Homes line one side of most of the fairways and if you spray it, you're in a yard with some kids or dogs!  When we played in November 2017 the fairways were very rough with lots of bare spots and mixture of grass, dirt, and weeds.

The greens at Blackhawk Golf Club were a variety of shapes and most were about average size – on the back nine there were a couple monster sized greens – and all but one are well guarded by one to three bunkers.  They were in pretty good shape, held the ball well, ran very true, and were a bit slow.  Most of the greens have minor slope but are easy to read.  Putting wasn't an issue for us.

The bunkers were about average size with lips ranging from a few inches to a couple feet.  The sand varied from soft and deep to thin, hard, and gritty.  Some of the bunkers needed some TLC.

Bottom line – a good quality links course that gives you an opportunity to have fun and a low scoring round at a very reasonable price.