Back in 1992, Le Robinie was where the Nicklaus Design team established their first Italian course and the Golden Bear himself put his signature stamp on the property. His son Jack Junior would design Arzaga, near Brescia, three years later but to date, these two layouts remain the only Nicklaus tracks in “Lo Stivale” (the Boot).
Situated only five miles east of Milan’s Malpensa Airport, Le Robinie course was constructed on a largely level piece of land so over two million cubic metres of soil were moved to create lakes, gently undulating fairways, tiered bunkers and moundings in the style of an American TPC layout.
In order to score well, golfers must evade the main water hazards on the opening and closing holes of the outward and inward halves and avoid the many bunkers (28 of them on the par four 4th) dotted around this parkland course – but with fairways as wide and open as they are here, that should be achievable for most players.