THE BLACK DIAMOND STORY
A Note from the Developer
There's a reason the manatees return to the warm fresh
waters of the Homosassa River each year and the tarpon school off our western
shore. Citrus County is a wonderful
place to be. For mammals. For fish.
For birds. And for people. My wife Betty and I came here years ago from
New England and saw immediately that Citrus County was where we wanted to
be. It had a lot of New England in
it. Friendly people. Small towns.
A sensible, worry-free pace of life.
And lots of natural beauty.
But I suppose, mostly I was drawn here by the trees. Black Diamond was located on pastureland
along with a limestone quarry, but it also had huge stands of oak trees. We've made sure that most of the trees have
been saved. Maybe that's why so many
people feel like they've come home when they come here. Instead of strip malls and super highways,
you're likely to see trees and cows and rolling pastureland. It's sort of like turning the clock back a
century or so.
That's why we developed Black Diamond. We think it combines the best of nature, good
planning, a quiet unpretentious lifestyle, great recreation and comfortable
surroundings. It wouldn't?t work in other
parts of Florida or the Southeast. Only
Citrus County.
We hope you like Black Diamond.
Sincerely,
Stan Olsen
Black Diamond developer, Stan Olsen, was the co-founder of
Digital Equipment Corporation. In the
early 1980s, he turned his attention from interactive computers to land
development in the rolling hills and natural beauty of Citrus County on the
Gulf Coast.
Citrus County
History and Lore
On June 2, 1887, Florida Governor E.A. Perry signed a bill
that established Citrus County. During
that time its residents relied on turpentine from trees, lemons and limes, fish
and fertilizer to make a living. They've
also rubbed elbows with The King, The Kid and the Prez. The first County Courthouse was built in the
state capital of Inverness in 1892.
Weather played an integral part of the county's history,
including the Big Freeze of 1894-95, which destroyed virtually all of the
citrus groves. But the county's economy
rebounded in 1889 with the discovery of phosphate deposits, which are used in
making fertilizer and the county's population swelled to 10,000.
In 1961 the final scenes of the Elvis Presley's "Follow That
Dream" were filmed in the old county courthouse. Other parts of the movie were filmed in
Crystal River, Ocala and Tampa. In
addition, President Grover Cleveland found idyllic refuge hunting and fishing
on the Homosassa River, and one of baseball's all-time greats, Ted Williams (a
Black Diamond member) was also captivated by Citrus County's outdoor pursuits
and spent his retirement years here.
Thomas Edison also was a winter resident of the county, and the nation's
first Coca-Cola vending machine was installed in the Citrus County Courthouse
in 1940.
The History of Black Diamond
The story of Black Diamond, one of the premier private golf
club communities in the U.S., begins with the vision of its developer, Stan
Olsen. In the early 1980s, Olsen
discovered the natural beauty of Citrus County on central Florida's Gulf
Coast. A man of adventure and
traditional values, he was attracted to this relatively unknown region of
Florida by its dramatic rolling terrain, unspoiled beaches and crystal clear
springs and rivers that flow into the Gulf of Mexico.
Olsen was also pleased to learn that nearly half of Citrus
County is set aside in state or federal land preserves, ensuring that its
wonderful habitat will remain intact, thereby protecting its plentiful wildlife
which includes West Indian manatees, black bears, panthers, bobcats, cougars,
alligators, tortoises, otters, deer, bald eagles and countless rare birds.
Blessed with sand hills of up to 180 feet, an abundance of
live oaks, sub-tropical vegetation, and a sunny temperate climate, Citrus
County's Nature Coast is an ideal area for year-round golf and a wonderful
setting for an active, outdoor lifestyle.
It's a slice of Florida that few have found, and none have expected.
In addition, notes Olsen, there's a vitality in the
people who live here hard-working, but fun-loving people who have come from
many different places. It's a rich but
dynamic culture that is truly American in nature like something you would see
in a Norman Rockwell painting. People
are sensitive to the environment. There
aren't any high-rise condominiums just quality villages and towns, and
historic Native American sites. The
spirit of old Florida and Southern hospitality are alive and well here.
Olsen was fascinated by the history, unique culture and
abundant natural treasures of Florida's Nature Coast, but it was the expansive
sand hills that turned his attention to the development of the 1,320-acre
property near the quaint little town of Lecanto that is now Black Diamond. The ranch was first settled by John Newell,
an Ohio landowner, in the early 1930s, and in the 1940s, the property was purchased
by John Taylor, Jr., a citrus packing magnate from Largo, Florida. Impressed by the natural attributes of the
land, Taylor named it Black Diamond Ranch after a premium grapefruit of the
same name. Enter Stan Olsen in 1984, who
after a thorough search of Citrus County, bought the property and the rest is
history.
Black Diamond Golf
In 1984, demonstrating his enduring commitment to
excellence, Stan Olsen selected Tom Fazio, the world's pre-eminent golf course
architect, to design and build two world-class, 18-hole courses that would
compliment and enhance the natural beauty of the Black Diamond landscape. In his soft-spoken, but resolute manner,
Olsen's charge to Fazio was to Build the best golf courses in the world, and
I'll figure out where the homes will go.
And so the development of Black Diamond began and the community's gates
were first opened in December 1987.
From the beginning, Olsen's vision has continually taken
Black Diamond golf to a higher level than the typical Florida-style courses
where man-made lakes and sand are the only design features. As Olsen so wisely stated, Golf has to be
the most significant and outstanding attribute of the community.
Early on in the planning stages, Olsen's foresight, Fazio's
artistry and a mountain of earthwork turned a potential development problem, in
the form of two unsightly and abandoned limestone quarries, into the hallmark
of Black Diamond's first 18-hole course the Quarry Course. These two canyon-like features were
transformed into the setting for a stunning five-hole odyssey of the most
spectacular and most photographed holes in the world of golf. To Black Diamond, this stretch of five
remarkable holes has become what Amen Corner is to Augusta National.
Tom Fazio is a master when it comes to designing unique and
dramatic golf environments that are as challenging as they are beautiful. A true artist, he was blessed with a
wonderful canvas at Black Diamond on which to paint a grand masterpiece. And that he has done, creating a magnificent
complex of 45 holes of golf, including the 18-hole Quarry and Ranch Courses and
a 9-hole layout named the Highlands Course that's as worthy of accolades as the
first two courses.
As a developer, Olsen realized that visually exciting,
challenging holes and noteworthy honors are important to the success of a
high-end golf community. Just as
importantly, however, as a high-handicap golfer, he knew that the golf courses
had to be playable and enjoyable for all the members. With five sets of tees at a variety of angles
and yardages ranging from 7,159 to 4,785 on the Quarry Course and 7,004 to
5,003 on the Ranch Course, Fazio has accomplished this.
The Quarry Course opened to rave reviews in December 1987,
and has garnered widespread praise and recognition. Golf Digest rated it among the Top 100
Courses in the U.S., and 3rd in the state behind only Seminole and
the TPC at Sawgrass, while the Ranch Course has been ranked among the top 10 in
Florida. Also, Golfweek magazine
has ranked the Quarry Course among the top five Real Estate Courses in the
U.S., and 25th among America's Best Modern Courses (built since
1960), and Golf Magazine has ranked the Quarry Course 60th in the
Top 100 Courses in the U.S. ahead of such courses as Long Cove, the Ocean
Course at Kiawah, Hazeltine National, Troon and Jupiter Hills. It has also been featured in Links
Magazine as a Modern Classic course.
The Quarry Course has 13 outstanding golf holes and 5
incredible ones. The Quarry holes, Nos.
13 through 17, play across and around the rims of two canyons up to 80 feet
deep, and may well be the most spectacular holes of golf this side of Pebble
Beach. As with the other 13 holes,
particularly 9 and 18, the Quarry holes have both beauty and bite. Included in this five-hole odyssey are two
dramatic drop-shot par-threes, two awesome par-fours and one great risk-reward
par-five which yield eagles and birdies as well as double and triple
bogeys. On a cool morning the 371 yard,
par-four 15th hole is a slice of heaven with fog rising from the
lake 60 feet below, lush verdant grass, bright white bunkers and long, dark
shadows being cast dramatically across the fairway and green.
Rarely, if ever, will you find a golf course with as much
diversity as the Quarry Course, including dramatic changes to elevation,
expansive natural sandy areas, bright-white bunkers, occasional water features,
gnarled live oaks, magnolias, palmettos and free flowing contours
throughout. It's a course that will
thrill you, challenge you and astound you every time you play it.
The Ranch Course at Black Diamond is a little more natural
and a little less manicured. The
fairways are framed by hammocks of oaks and tawny colored sand, and dotted by
native vegetation. It doesn't so much
occupy the land, as meld into it a bit like Pine Valley, but more
forgiving. As Tommy Bolt puts it, The
Ranch Course is pure, undisturbed golf.
It's a super course that you want to play over and over again. It has a lot of character and strategy and
blends in beautifully with its surroundings.
Originally planned as a par-three course, the 9-hole
Highlands Course is as worthy and engaging as the Quarry and Ranch
Courses. It can be played in tandem with
either nines of the Ranch Course, offering members two more 18-hole
combinations. The Highlands has its own
distinctive character and charm. The
fairways are relatively generous, but if you don't position your tee shots
well, you will likely be left with a challenging approach to greens built on
the same grade as the fairways. Many of
the putting surfaces are open in the front with subtle contours and closely cut
chipping areas that favor the old-fashioned bump and run shot.
The foresight of developer Stan Olsen has had a positive and
innovative impact on the Black Diamond community by enhancing the relationship
of the golf courses and the homes.
Because of his passion for nature, Olsen always had a vision of
developing a community where many would not only work in harmony with nature,
but would enhance the beauty of the existing landscape. By increasing the setbacks of the homes from
the golf courses, he increased the natural beauty and integrity of both. The residential settings have a roomy
park-like feeling with long, scenic views and the exteriors of the homes are
finished with earth tones and textures to create a blending effect.
Whether you're looking for a home or a home away from home,
Black Diamond is the natural choice.
THE BLACK
DIAMOND STORY
