Best golf courses near Crystal River, FL

Black Diamond Ranch is located in out-of-the-way hill country of central Florida, some 30 miles southwest of Ocala. Part of a residential development, this Tom Fazio fantasy-come-alive features a front nine that runs up and down 60-foot-high sand hills and alongside natural sand dunes. But it’s the back-nine stretch through an old rock quarry, holes 13 through 17, that’s the real draw. You start with a par 3 over a pit, then skirt along the rim of a bigger quarry, then descend 85 feet of steep limestone cliffs to the 15th green, positioned astride a bottomless pit of lake, then emerge for more shots along the edge, then shoot down into the smaller pit to the 17th green before finishing on a conventional 18th. Black Diamond has as many twists and turns as a hard-boiled detective novel. Traditionally a private club (there are a total of 45 holes on property), Black Diamond now offers on-site accommodations and stay and play packages.

Less than an hour south of the University of Florida, Juliette Falls was designed before the homes were laid out around the course, allowing designer John Sanford the freedom to route the holes as he wanted. The course has a rolling topography and great layout variety, with holes moving in both directions and a mix of uphill and downhill shots. There are a couple split fairways, at the fifth and 17th, which force players to be strategic about their tee shots. Those risk/reward decisions are present throughout Juliette Falls. The course has a great set of greens, with plenty of different shapes and contours.

The Quarry Course at Black Diamond Ranch, which once ranked as high as No. 24 on America’s 100 Greatest Courses, dominates the topic of golf at this upscale community club due in large part to four second nine holes that descend dramatically into a massive stone quarry. The Ranch course, built in 1997, 10 years after the Quarry, is more subtle but no less evocative. Visitors are often surprised to see how much elevation change exists in this part of Florida, 90 minutes north of Tampa, but ancient sand ridges give the topography variety to go along with beautiful mature live oak specimen trees. That’s the tapestry of the Ranch, which has the feel of a pastoral stroll, a feeling enhanced after a 2024 renovation by architect Tripp Davis.