Black Diamond Golf Course

Golf Course Description

This full-service club is located on the northern edge of the Alaska Range, which is a collection of majestic peaks standing guard over the top of the world, with Denali, “The Great One,” reigning supreme over all. The course is respectively sculpted in harmony with Alaska’s mountains, lakes, wildflowers and wildlife. This is a challenging course with Alaskan hazards, such as a tundra marsh or the occasional moose hoof print. It’s a relatively short course, which makes it accessible and fun for the style of play of even a first-time golfer. The course design makes for a quick round, which can fit into almost any travel schedule. Black Diamond’s course encourages you to go for the green, yet rewards the golfer who chooses to play conservatively. Hazards can also include moose, caribou, or even the occasional grizzly. The course is gentle enough for seniors, yet full of the refreshing challenges that keep even the scratch golfers enthralled. The course takes its name from the historic Diamond Strip Mine, which in turn is named for Black Diamond Peak, the foothills of which are in the backyard of the golf course. The Diamond Strip Mine was developed in 1943 as part of the war minerals program of the US Government, and was instrumental in easing the coal shortages resulting from World War II. The coal lies in a formation known as the Nenana coal bed, a foothill belt boarded in the south by the high, rugged masses of the Alaska Range, and to the north by the broad flats of the Tanana Valley. The coal was hauled by truck five miles down a gravel road to the small railroad town of Healy (established as a mining camp in about 1905), where the railway transported it to Fairbanks for use by the US Army. Although no longer active, and partially reclaimed by the forces of nature, the Diamond Strip Mine and its effect on the history of this area is still visible for all to see.