By Vinnie Manginelli, PGA
Brian Brake started working in outside operations at Blackhawk Country Club in December of 1998. He was still in high school at the time. Since then, he played golf for three years at St. Mary’s College, moved into the golf shop, became an assistant golf professional, the head golf professional, and in April of 2021, the PGA of America Director of Golf.
Blackhawk Country Club opened in 1979 with its first 18-hole layout, the Lakeside Course, opening in 1981. It was originally designed by Bruce Devlin and Robert Von Hagge, but was redesigned 20 years later. In 1986, Ted Robinson opened the club’s 6,700-yard Falls Course. With five lakes, a waterfall, amazing views and elevation changes, this experience goes beyond the golf.
Blackhawk Country Club earned its first Golf Range Association of America (GRAA) Top 50 Private Facility Award in 2023. This was no accident. The facility boasts 18 lighted tennis courts, eight pickleball courts and two racquetball courts. There’s a full-court basketball court outdoors and a half-court indoors. They remodeled the fitness center shortly before the pandemic, and today Fitness Director Shelby Stamets offers group programming and private training to meet all their members’ fitness needs. The massive swimming pool is used for competition and recreation. In fact, the fitness center and pool earned Top Ranked status with Club+Resort Business Magazine in 2022.
Blackhawk’s five dining venues offer everything from fine dining to casual fare, creating a special member experience with each visit to the club. Their many social events take advantage of the plethora of amenities offered throughout this facility.
Returning to the golf scene, Blackhawk Country Club has 800 golf members who enjoy 36 championship holes of golf. They installed state-of-the-art ball-tracking technology on the range in 2022 with 21 hitting bays, 18 of which have 27” monitors and three using the mobile feature. There are three additional hitting areas on the lesson tee that utilize the mobile ball-tracking technology.
Brake says they installed a FlightScope X3 launch monitor and golf simulator in the clubhouse more than a decade ago to engage with members in inclement weather and capture the vital data that makes their custom club fitting results so precise for maximum member benefit on the course. They carry custom-fitting carts from all the big golf equipment companies, boosting sales of hard goods in the golf shop.
With nine PGA Members or Associate Professionals on staff, Blackhawk Country Club offers an array of player development programs and game improvement opportunities for its members, not to mention an extensive tournament package for outside organizations to hold their special golf fundraising events.
Somewhat unique to Blackhawk (I’ve only seen it a few times) are the teaching assignments that each PGA Professional assumes on a daily basis. “Most of the programming comes from Michael Conley, who earned his PGA membership earlier this year,” Brake says. “He’s done a great job implementing Operation 36 for juniors and is putting it into play for adult programming as well.”
Brake says that each professional is assigned to a different group – nine-holers, 18-holers, seniors – and oversees their progress, putting together lessons and clinics for them throughout the season.
“Matt Capasso handles our PGA Jr. League,” Brake added, “and does some work with our women’s groups as well.”
With each professional taking ownership of his own program, they are learning skills beyond simply teaching golf, things like time management, preparation, communication and follow-up.
Check out the Blackhawk Country Club website here, and to contact Brian Brake, PGA, email him at bbrake@blackhawkcc.org.
