79 Bunkers on the Ranch course have been relocated to better challenge low handicap golfers The Quarry course may be the headliner at Black Diamond Ranch in Lecanto, Florida, but the Ranch layout is now making its own noise. With a renovation by Tripp Davis now complete, it has gone from reliable understudy to a star in its own right. Black Diamond Ranch has 45 holes of golf by Fazio Design – the 18-hole Quarry and Ranch courses and the nine-hole Highlands layout. The golf club is the centrepiece of an 800-home development that also includes a variety of amenities. In spring 2023, owner-operator Escalante Golf appointed Davis to lead a two-phase renovation of the Ranch, 35 years after it first opened, with the aim of addressing course features to fit modern play. “The brief was to enhance the design as necessary infrastructure work was being completed,” says Davis. “The club needed to install new irrigation and regrass the entire course, and the bunkers were beyond their effective lifespan. This scenario gave us an opportunity to look at enhancing the design to be more interesting to play in the modern game, to be more visually appealing, and more efficiently maintained. “The Quarry is meant to be the tougher of the two courses, so our work was to make Ranch more Ranching out Photo: Tripp Davis Tripp Davis updates bunker strategy and introduces subtle movement to greens at Black Diamond’s Ranch course. REPORT
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