When Brent Cornelius was 11 he loved coming to Blue Rock Springs Golf Club in Vallejo. In fact, he knew the course like the back of his hand, helping him win a youth title there in 1986.
About 40 years later, not much as changed for Cornelius. However, instead of winning tournaments, he appreciates winning over new members to the club.
“It’s a good course to learn the game on,” Cornelius said. “I love the design and it’s not overly challenging but also not easy. Over the years, people took very good care of it.”
Now, that’s Cornelius’ job. The current 265 members — possibly up to 300 by the end of the year — seem to agree. It was voted as Solano County’s Favorite Thing to Do.
Jack Fleming and Joe Mortora opened the course located at 655 Columbus in Vallejo back in 1941. In 1993, the club opened the East Course, while in 2006 the course design was enhanced by Robert Muir Graves.
According to the club’s website, the West course is “very playable and well-suited for every level of player,” while the East course opened in 1993 and is the newer of the layouts with sweeping views of the North Bay and Mt. Tamalpais in Marin County. According to the club’s website, “several elevation changes and greens protected by sand bunkers, the East course can be challenging.”
Besides the west and the east courses, consisting of a total of 36 holes, the club also contains a full driving range consisting of 32 practice stalls. There are two putting greens and a chipping green. The club, open seven days a week, is only closed on Christmas Day.
The general manager says that weekends are much busier, but he still gets out-of-towners to play during the week.
Besides being a winner with the Times-Herald in Solano County, Blue Rock Springs was also acknowledged by the U.S. Commerce Association as the “best of” in the public golf courses category for 2022. The course has also been recognized as one of the top facilities in Solano County from 2015 to 2025.
“I love trying to keep all the members of the club happy, and some of them go back to being here since I first started playing here,” Cornelius said. “But one of my biggest joys is seeing the growth of the club. I love seeing new members enjoy the course for the first time and in time, become members.”
So, nearly 40 years later, what is Cornelius’ favorite hole of the course? Well, that’s too difficult a question, so he named a favorite for the east and west courses.
“On the East Course, it’s probably the 11th hole, while I really like No. 14 on the West Course,” the general manager said.
In order to become a member of the club, contact Nikki Short at nshort@bluerockspringsgolf.com or Ashley Thomas at athomas@bluerockspringsgolf.com for more information. Members get priority tee times, discounted rates and discounts in the pro shop.
