The Highland Course at Black Diamond Ranch represents Tom Fazio's vision for a dramatic golf experience carved from central Florida's Withlacoochee State Forest landscape. Opened in 1987, it was the first of two courses Fazio designed for this private residential community in Citrus County, about seventy miles north of Tampa. The property's rolling terrain and natural elevation changes—unusual for Florida—gave Fazio opportunities to create a routing with significant topographical variety, including elevated tees, downhill approaches, and green sites set into hillsides or perched above fairways. The course winds through dense stands of pine, oak, and native vegetation, with several holes playing along or across ravines and natural waste areas that define the property's character. Fazio incorporated the site's existing contours into his design, producing a layout that feels more reminiscent of Carolina sandhills golf than typical Florida courses. Strategic bunkering and green complexes require thoughtful course management, particularly on approach shots where elevation changes affect club selection. Black Diamond Ranch operates as a private equity club with two Fazio courses—the Highland and the Ranch Course—and has developed a reputation for conditioning and member amenities. The Highland Course has hosted various regional amateur competitions and remains the more dramatic of the two layouts, drawing on the property's natural topography to create a distinctive playing experience within Florida's Gulf Coast region.

The Highland Course at Black Diamond Ranch represents Tom Fazio's vision for a dramatic golf experience carved from central Florida's Withlacoochee State Forest landscape. Opened in 1987, it was the first of two courses Fazio designed for this private residential community in Citrus County, about seventy miles north of Tampa. The property's rolling terrain and natural elevation changes—unusual for Florida—gave Fazio opportunities to create a routing with significant topographical variety, including elevated tees, downhill approaches, and green sites set into hillsides or perched above fairways. The course winds through dense stands of pine, oak, and native vegetation, with several holes playing along or across ravines and natural waste areas that define the property's character. Fazio incorporated the site's existing contours into his design, producing a layout that feels more reminiscent of Carolina sandhills golf than typical Florida courses. Strategic bunkering and green complexes require thoughtful course management, particularly on approach shots where elevation changes affect club selection. Black Diamond Ranch operates as a private equity club with two Fazio courses—the Highland and the Ranch Course—and has developed a reputation for conditioning and member amenities. The Highland Course has hosted various regional amateur competitions and remains the more dramatic of the two layouts, drawing on the property's natural topography to create a distinctive playing experience within Florida's Gulf Coast region.