Arboretum

Italian architect Marco Croze laid out literally dozens of golf courses in his native country during a career spanning almost half a century, starting with Golf Club Udine in 1969. One of his later projects was here at Golf Arboretum, where he fashioned a 9-hole course for the club in 1998, returning three years later with Peter Škofic to add another nine.

The course is set out in the middle of a pine forest, next to the Volčji Potok Arboretum, the most visited botanical park in Slovenia,. Lightly bunkered holes are routed across a pleasantly undulating landscape with several of the fairways leading to water-protected greens. With only three par fives on the card, the course extends to a modest 5,452 metres.

The 336-metre 7th is rated the toughest hole on the card, doglegging down and left to a green that sits behind a couple of small ponds. On the back nine, the 430-metre 12th is another feature hole, playing uphill and left from the tee before levelling out then plunging back down across a wetland area to a long, offset green.