El Diablo Golf And
Country Club is definitely not your typical Florida golf course. Located in
Citrus County it offers a relaxing and unhurried atmosphere. With dramatic
elevation changes, fairways carved through rich and lush pine forests,
bunkers so steep and deep, you’ll think you’re across the pond, and greens
as fast and undulating as any in Florida, El Diablo is a challenge for the
body and an incredible stimulus for the imagination! These are just some of
the reasons GOLF DIGEST calls El Diablo the “Best new affordable Public golf
course In America.”
If
off-the-beaten-track, tranquil, beautiful, challenging, spectacular and
inspiring are words you’d like to use to describe your next round of golf,
you absolutely have to experience El Diablo Golf and Country Club! There
simply is no other golf course in Florida like El Diablo! There are no homes
on the course—barely any homes nearby. There are dramatic elevation changes,
hillock-filled and tree-lined fairways and bunkers that rival anything St.
Andrews has to offer. And the receptive greens always roll 9.5 or better on
the stimpmeter. Secluded deep within the hardwood and pine trees of Citrus
Springs, El Diablo rises and falls fluidly and naturally with the
intricacies and modulations of this rare and breath-taking landscape. Every
single hole is a different, visually impressive masterpiece of golf course
architecture.
The course was
designed with the assistance of Jim Fazio and completed in 1988. Even though
construction was a mammoth endeavor, “The course looks very natural, like
it’s been here 100 years,” says former general manager, Nathan Pyles.
The landscaping is phenomenal. The purely aesthetic use of endless varieties
of flowers and plant life is noticeable at every turn. “The goal was to
build the best possible golf course that could be made. We’ve tried to build
a course that incorporates the type of golf shots that we like to play and
that we think most golfers like to play.” Measuring 7.045 yards and 75.3/147
championship rating and slope, El Diablo offers a concentration-testing
challenge to the most advanced player. A less intimidating challenge awaits
those who play the 6,888 yard silver tees, the 6232 yard blue tees or the
5654 yard white tees. Even from the forward tees, El Diablo still offers a
stout challenge and a treat for the senses.
Throughout the course,
the bunkers are as much works of art as they are hazards. Cut at oblique
angles and bomb-crater deep greenside, the bunkers not only shape the hole,
they help to define it. The fairway bunkers, amply filled with deep, Florida
sand, demand respect from the tee and superb balance on the approach. The
true key to El Diablo is the greens, which are huge, fast and severely
sloped. Thank heavens they’re soft and receptive—designed to hold iron
shots. Depending on the angle most pin placements are accessible, but you’ve
got to favor the correct side of the fairway to get there. Above the hole on
many holes may mean you’re chipping back if you’re first putt is a little
too bold!
| Tee |
Rating
|
Slope
|
|
Gold Tees |
75.3
|
147
|
|
Silver Tees |
73.7
|
136 |
|
Blue Tees |
|
|
| White Tees |
|
M:121/L:124
|
|
|
