Black Diamond Ranch is located in the small Central Florida town of Lecanto Florida. The private golf course community is home to three golf courses. Those courses are the 18-hole Quarry, the 18-hole Ranch and the 9-hole Highlands course. The Quarry course leads the pack as the iconic, must play design of world renowned golf course designer Tom Fazio.
The land itself is situated on some gradually rolling Florida sand hills and is filled with tall pine trees and moss draped oak trees. Also, the property has a couple old abandoned limestone quarries. The property had turned over through multiple owners over the years. Those owners included a rancher, a citrus industry titan and finally in the mid 1980’s the land was purchased by a developer.
That developer, Stan Olsen, was looking to build a community that fit well within the natural beauty of Citrus County. It’s a county that enjoys both coastal areas along the west coast of Florida known as the gulf coast and natural wooded and protected areas. Olsen smartly brought in Tom Fazio who remains one of the top golf course designers in the industry.
Tom Fazio was given the green light to design a golf course first and foremost. The plan from the beginning was to layout the best possible golf course then after the fact bring in the housing and additional development infrastructure. To this day, that decision still makes for a premium golf experience as any housing is pushed way off the course and really blends into the background on the Quarry course.
The Quarry course is well maintained throughout the entire property. That attention to detail includes the stately, moss-draped oak trees and all the trees that frame the fairways. All low hanging limbs are nicely trimmed creating both a cleaner sight line for golfers but also making the course more playable should you find yourself away from the short grass. That clean appearance shines through as soon as you pass through the gates. Look to your right and you can see all the way to the famed quarry holes and ponder what the future might bring.
The Quarry course starts off very straight forward with an elevated first tee and a fairway that is wide and doglegs gently to the left. The first green is small with some subtle contours. After making it through several holes, it’s apparent that the sloping of the greens while looking subtle is actually quite pronounced once you go to putt. The course definitely has pin placements that can be tough to access due to these contours and green speed.
The courses first great hole is the par-5 9th hole. It takes a good carry to clear the lake with little roll out due to the sloping of the fairway. The hole plays long as it’s all up hill to a green that sits perched above the fairway and really can’t been seen as you hit your third shot. From there, golfers are greeted with a green with continuous undulation that can easily produce a three-putt or worse if you find yourself on the wrong side of the pin.
The back nine’s 10th hole presents another elevated tee shot with a long bunker down the right. There’s plenty of room left, but a conservative line off the tee leaves a long second shot into the par-4. It’s at this point in the round that your excitement level starts to build as you know by reputation that the quarry holes start on number 13.
The 13th hole is a par-3 and the first of five quarry holes. No matter what tees you’re playing, to get the premium experience you need to play the back tees on this hole. The starter recommended it to us and said you may want to bring a couple balls to the tee. This tee has to be the high spot on the golf course as you walk up a couple sets of steps. Once at the top, you are greeted with top of the world views. The hole plays downhill to about 185 yards with a green perched on the edge of the quarry in the front and on the right. Additionally, the bailout left is taken away by a bunker that surely gets a lot of action.
The 14th hole is a gorgeous par-5 the continually doglegs left with the quarry along the entire hole. A brave tee shot down the left can make this very reachable in two. However, the green sits on the edge of the quarry and large mounding to the right leaves no easy up and down.
The par-4 15th hole is the signature hole for the entire property. From an elevated tee, golfers try to find the fairway below that is built down inside the old limestone quarry. The hole is short so anything in the fairway leaves a good chance at hitting the green in two shots. The design of the hole is amazing as there are two fairways. The lower takes on the lake and trap down the left side. The higher fairway is smaller but leaves a good angle into the green below.
Golfers then make their way out of the quarry and back to the edge of it to tee off on the Par-4 16th. The 17th is the last of the quarry holes. it’s a downhill par-3 with a sheer limestone cliff wall to the left of the green and quarry to the right. The green is narrow but extraordinarily long making for multiple lengths and pin positions.
Black Diamond’s Quarry Course treats those who get to play there with five quarry holes that are truly a feast to a golfers eyes. All of these holes are both mesmerizing, challenging and one-of-a-kind. When the course opened in the late 1980’s it was the talk of the golf world due to Tom Fazio’s extraordinary vision. All these years later, it’s still an amazing experience. Pair the quarry holes with the 9th hole and you have six great, once in a lifetime golf holes at the Quarry course. Black Diamond is a private member golf course but is also presently offering a stay and play package on a limited basis.