Argentario - Central Italy - Italy

I can’t vouch for the resort as I didn’t stay here but the new clubhouse, driving range and surroundings are very smart. The course was busy on arrival so Giulia in the golf club office, who seems to run a pretty tight ship, suggested we play the back nine first to avoid congestion on the front nine.

This turned out to be a wise move for two reasons: we managed to get round holes 10-18 in less than two hours and we also played what we felt was the weaker of the two nines first. That’s not to say they were bad holes – far from it, they just didn’t quite match up to the other half.

Holes 10 and 11 are fine; a solid par four with a ditch in front of the green followed by a par five that rises slightly uphill to the green. Both holes are played through a lovely olive grove, which also houses the 16th and 17th holes.

The 12th was a perplexing short par four, narrowing dramatically with trees on either side before veering left to the green. If you’re not on the right side of the fairway then you’re totally blocked out for your approach shot. The par fours at holes 13 and 14 were a lot more inviting, even with a large tree in the middle of one of the fairways.

The front nine kicks off in fine style with a par four hole that bends left to a green protected in front by a little ditch. The following two holes are easily the best on the property, both played from seriously elevated tee locations with the lagoon as a fantastic backdrop – they’re great holes but they’re also something of a problem as expectations for more of the same are never realized.

The 6th and 7th are routed on either side of a small pond so water has to be avoided to the left of the fairway on both holes then the 9th heads back to the clubhouse, flirting with another pond to the right side of the green. Looking back now, there was a lot more water around than I imagined at the time!

Maintenance is a definite issue here as some of the fairways have large bare patches, perhaps due to a faulty/leaky irrigation system, but they’re not of a standard you’d expect to find at a PGA National course and it’s something that really needs to be addressed.

Don’t allow a relatively minor aspect of conditioning cast a shadow over the many other good things going on at Argentario because the greens were great, the bunkers were sensibly positioned and the water hazards were not overly penal.

Still, a course with a slope rating of 141 from the back tees (at 6,218 metres) is more than capable of baring its teeth, especially when the coastal breezes kick in.

Jim McCann

I personally enjoyed this course. It is kept quite well (first week of January 2015), and for me playing golf under the sun in January was quite a privilege. My wife and daughter enjoyed the spa at the hotel, and later joined me at the driving range where they had a golf lesson with one of the club's Pros. Food was a bit too expensive at the golf bar. But then there are many places where to eat around the local towns.

I really enjoyed this golf course. It can be quite hard for beginners as it is technical, but I found it really fun. It has a beautiful design in the Tuscan sea landscape. I stayed at the resort on site, so I only paid half of the green fee (there is a 50% discount for guests). However, I think that the price is reasonable for the quality and considering the green fees in other Italian courses. Maintenance should be improved, but I enjoyed the experience and would return for some more golf by the sea.

This Hotel and its Golf Course should be avoided by anyone with good sense. It might attract new Italian golfers with no taste and lots of money but for the rest I recommend you give it a very wide berth. Italy has plenty of good courses, this is not one of them. We visited in June 2014 and the course had just held the Elephant Trust convention. The course had been prepared by starving it of water and maintenance for a month so that it looked like northern Kenya in the dry season. The hotel and its services were similarly lacking in grace and quality whilst the prices were astronomic. There are some wonderful restaurants locally but the food here was that of a cheap french motorway chain, so bad we went outside for breakfast even.

Just less then two hours from Rome, located in the Argentario promontory in the beautiful Tuscany's Maremma, we find a true gem among Italy's golf courses, the Argentario Golf Resort & SPA. The 18 hole golf course, designed by David Mezzacane and Baldovino Dassù, opened in 2006 and is ranked among the top golf courses in Europe. I played other David Mezzacane courses in the past, and I can say with no doubt that Argentario Golf Course is his masterpiece. The views over the Orbetello Lagoon and the Tyrrhenian Sea are breathtaking. The course is scenic and challenging, with several elevation changes covering a natural environment on a protected natural area surrounded by the Mediterranean Vegetation. A location where a refreshing breeze mitigates the temperature and adds an extra challenge to the game which, on this course, requires a combination of accuracy and power. 6.218 meters from the back tees, Argentario golf course is a Par 71. The front-nine provides spectacular views out to sea and across two lagoons that separate Argentario from the mainland, featuring more elevation changes then the back-nine where the course goes inland and flattens with several holes passing directly through olive groves on their way to tricky, undulating greens. Argentario Golf Course has been awarded the “Agri Cert” certification for its bio eco-compatibility, and all products used for its maintenance are completely natural. It also has been awarded and named: Best Golf & Spa in Europe - 2012 - Spa Traveller Awards Favorite Spa in Italy - 2012 - SpaFinder® Wellness Readers’ Choice Country Awards TOP 10 best golf resorts in Italy - 2012 - Condé Nast Traveller 6th amongst all of Europe’s golf courses - 2012 - Albrecht Golf Guide Awards Committed to Green - 2011 - Italian Golf Federation Best Golf Course - 2006 - World of Golf magazine

Tourists have been heading to Tuscany for centuries. The British, in particular, have always been fond of the region since the days of the Grand Tour when they came over the northern hills into Florence. Cultural delights, superb scenery, fine food and some of the world’s most delicious wines have now been joined by top flight golf courses to add the Tuscany’s long list of attractions.

One of the newcomers is on the western coast with stunning views out to sea and back inland to the Maremma hills. The Argentario Resort Golf & Spa is an exclusive and expensive complex, so don’t be put off by the brutal architectural exterior of the hotel, everything inside is of a serious five star quality.

The course is long, probably too long off the back tees for holiday golf, at 6,800 yards and it is also a hard walk with numerous climbs, so best take a buggy. Spring or early Autumn are the right times to visit as when we played, at the beginning of March, the course was extremely wet which meant that buggies were not available. Also, in high Summer the place can become baked, so do pick your times sensibly. Otherwise this is a spectacular, challenging layout and certainly no place for the novice. Players climb around wooded hillsides and rocky outcrops with some fine raised tee shots to enjoy. We found some of the holes are downright intimidating, and none more so than the par 4 18th where one has to fly an enormous drive over tall trees and a stream at 210 yards to have any chance of reaching the green.

However bad the round, the clubhouse offers some delicious Tuscan wines and excellent local food but this does not come cheaply. In fact nothing comes cheaply at Argentario so take plenty of money with you. This course is certainly worth playing and the hotel is terrific once one gets over the shock of the outside design but is no place for travellers on a budget.