Black Diamond Ranch, Quarry Course—Lecanto, FL
Rankings as of the last time I played it…November 14, 2009
Ranked the 41st best Modern Course; 9th best residential course (Golfweek)
Ranked the 89th best course in the U.S.; 3rd best course in Florida (Golf Digest)
Black Diamond Ranch is a private golf community located near the Gulf Coast of Florida. Once you pull into the club
the tone and tempo is set as you can see the Quarry holes off to the right. To say they are beautiful is an
understatement. The clubhouse is fantastic as is the entire neighborhood/community.
Inside the community there are 3 golf courses: The Ranch, which I found is preferred by the members of the club;
The Quarry, which is the most well known of the three courses; And the Highlands, which is a top-notch 9 hole golf
course. The day I was fortunate enough to visit, I had the opportunity to play the Quarry Course.
The Quarry Course is essentially 13 holes of a very upscale and immaculately maintained residential golf course
and 5 truly remarkable and mind blowing-ly beautiful holes which play in, around, and over a quarry.
The 13 holes of residential golf are extremely solid. Your power game will be challenged, as will you short game.
Bunkers come in to play, water comes into play, and positioning is of the utmost importance.
However once you step to the tee on the par 3 13th hole, you enter a different stratosphere. This par 3 requires a
reasonable 160ish yard carry to a green that is heavily guarded by numerous bunkers. God-forbid you go long and
land in one of the bunkers requiring an escape shot back toward to the green. Why? Well, let’s just say it is a bit
intimidating playing a bunker shot towards a seemingly bottomless pit…no matter how beautiful that pit might be.
Hole 14 is a beast of a par 5 that offers no “bail out” area off the tee. Carry the quarry or else!!!
Hole 15 is one of the best par 4’s I have ever played. You hit your tee shot down into the quarry and then you are
forced to challenge the lake at the bottom of the quarry as you approach the peninsula green.
Hole 16 is just a bit ridiculous (in my opinion). It is a par 4 that requires you to carry the quarry (once again) and
your tee shot takes you over the 15th green to a thin and undulating fairway. And, oh yeah, the green is
surrounded by hills, moguls, and bunkers. UGH!!!
And the last quarry hole is a monster par 3 (225 yards from the tee I played that day) to an extraordinarily thin green
which is surrounded by very severe slopes. Despite its difficulty, it is FUN, FUN, FUN to play!!!
My discussion focuses almost entirely on the quarry holes, which sells the rest of the course short. Trust me, the
entire course is a must play!!
All three of these courses were designed by Tom Fazio and the dark grey tees on the Quarry Course measure
6,537 yards and has a rating 72.1/131.
In closing, I will say that golf clubs are often looked solely at in the context of their courses. While Black Diamond
Ranch has great courses, the people I met there were even more world class than the golf courses located there!
Rankings as of the last time I played it…November 14, 2009
Ranked the 41st best Modern Course; 9th best residential course (Golfweek)
Ranked the 89th best course in the U.S.; 3rd best course in Florida (Golf Digest)
Black Diamond Ranch is a private golf community located near the Gulf Coast of Florida. Once you pull into the club
the tone and tempo is set as you can see the Quarry holes off to the right. To say they are beautiful is an
understatement. The clubhouse is fantastic as is the entire neighborhood/community.
Inside the community there are 3 golf courses: The Ranch, which I found is preferred by the members of the club;
The Quarry, which is the most well known of the three courses; And the Highlands, which is a top-notch 9 hole golf
course. The day I was fortunate enough to visit, I had the opportunity to play the Quarry Course.
The Quarry Course is essentially 13 holes of a very upscale and immaculately maintained residential golf course
and 5 truly remarkable and mind blowing-ly beautiful holes which play in, around, and over a quarry.
The 13 holes of residential golf are extremely solid. Your power game will be challenged, as will you short game.
Bunkers come in to play, water comes into play, and positioning is of the utmost importance.
However once you step to the tee on the par 3 13th hole, you enter a different stratosphere. This par 3 requires a
reasonable 160ish yard carry to a green that is heavily guarded by numerous bunkers. God-forbid you go long and
land in one of the bunkers requiring an escape shot back toward to the green. Why? Well, let’s just say it is a bit
intimidating playing a bunker shot towards a seemingly bottomless pit…no matter how beautiful that pit might be.
Hole 14 is a beast of a par 5 that offers no “bail out” area off the tee. Carry the quarry or else!!!
Hole 15 is one of the best par 4’s I have ever played. You hit your tee shot down into the quarry and then you are
forced to challenge the lake at the bottom of the quarry as you approach the peninsula green.
Hole 16 is just a bit ridiculous (in my opinion). It is a par 4 that requires you to carry the quarry (once again) and
your tee shot takes you over the 15th green to a thin and undulating fairway. And, oh yeah, the green is
surrounded by hills, moguls, and bunkers. UGH!!!
And the last quarry hole is a monster par 3 (225 yards from the tee I played that day) to an extraordinarily thin green
which is surrounded by very severe slopes. Despite its difficulty, it is FUN, FUN, FUN to play!!!
My discussion focuses almost entirely on the quarry holes, which sells the rest of the course short. Trust me, the
entire course is a must play!!
All three of these courses were designed by Tom Fazio and the dark grey tees on the Quarry Course measure
6,537 yards and has a rating 72.1/131.
In closing, I will say that golf clubs are often looked solely at in the context of their courses. While Black Diamond
Ranch has great courses, the people I met there were even more world class than the golf courses located there!
The tee shot on the Par 5 9th
