Golf Nazionale - Central Italy - Italy

Formerly known as Golf Club Le Querce, Golf Nazionale is situated approximately 60 kilometres to the northwest of Rome and this beautiful course is set in 60 hectares of delightful undulating land. With fairways flanked by stately oaks it's not surprising to note that the club was known as “The Oaks” in English.

Golf Nazionale opened for play in 1990 and Jim Fazio, nephew of the great George Fazio, designed the course with a little help from Italian David Mezzacane. This is certainly a course from the amazing Fazio stable, which was set up to house the Italian Golf Federation. A mere twelve months after the course opened for play Le Querce hosted the 1991 World Cup of Golf, now part of the World Golf Championships. The 1991 event saw the Swedish pairing of Per-Ulrik Johansson and Anders Forsbrande emerge victorious.

The round starts and ends with a lengthy par five and in between, half the holes on the card are doglegged to a certain degree, especially the 6th and 15th holes. There are three consecutive, demanding, par fours on the front nine beginning at the 435-yard 4th hole whilst both par threes on the back nine (at the 14th and 17th) are longer than 235 yards from the back tees. Little surprise then to discover Golf Nazionale has been ranked as high as any other top Italian course for its degree of difficulty.

The 595-yard 1st sets the tone for the whole round and is a real three-shot hole. The drive must avoid a large bunker to the right of the landing area so the preferred line is down the more open left of the fairway. Water to the left and trees to the right threaten the second shot before an approach can be played to a well-guarded, elevated green.