Blackhawk Country Club: Falls Course

The Falls Course at Blackhawk Country Club winds through the oak-studded hills of the Diablo foothills in Danville, California, using waterfalls, ponds, and elevation changes to shape nearly every shot. Ted Robinson's 1986 routing gave the course its name, with cascading water features on several holes, and a 2010 renovation by Casey O'Callaghan modernized the layout while retaining Robinson's scenic character.

Blackhawk Country Club was developed as the private golf anchor of the Blackhawk residential community in Danville, California, set in the East Bay hills at the foot of Mount Diablo. The Falls Course was designed by Ted Robinson and opened in 1986 as the second of the club's two 18-hole layouts, completing a 36-hole facility alongside the Lakeside Course. The Falls plays to a par of 72 at 6,738 yards from the Black tees, with a course rating of 72.5 and a slope of 134.

Ted Robinson built his career around water-feature design across the western United States, and his work at Blackhawk reflects that signature. The Falls Course takes its name from the cascading water features Robinson wove into the routing, with lakes and a waterfall serving as the backdrop to the 11th green. The layout uses the natural elevation of the Diablo foothills and the property's mature oak stands to frame holes, with water threatening play on a majority of the routing and elevation changes shaping nearly every shot.

In 2010, California-based architect Casey O'Callaghan led a renovation of the Falls Course that updated bunkering and green complexes while retaining Robinson's water features and the scenic character that defines the layout. The Lakeside Course, originally designed by Bruce Devlin and Robert von Hagge, had previously been redesigned by the firm Graves and Pascuzzo in 2001, so by the early 2010s both courses had been refreshed for contemporary play.

Blackhawk operates as a member-owned country club within the larger Blackhawk residential community in Danville. The two courses share a clubhouse and practice facility, with the Falls generally regarded as the more scenic of the two layouts for its use of cascading water and the elevation changes inherent to the Diablo foothills. The club has been a fixture of competitive amateur golf in the East Bay for nearly four decades.