Milano (1st & 2nd)

Set in the Parco di Monza to the north of the city, the Milano Golf Club is one of Italy’s most prestigious. It also has one of the finest clubhouses in all of Europe, a luxurious building that replaced the original hunting lodge in 1958.

The original 18-hole course was established thirty years before then by Peter Gannon and Cecil Blandford – both of whom went on to design other fine northern Italian courses like Florence-Ugolino and Varese in the early 1930s – and an additional 9-hole layout was added when the new clubhouse was built.

All 27 holes at Milano are routed through relatively flat terrain and the mature trees of this parkland setting ensure each hole is played in virtual isolation – in fact, it is only when the nearby Monza racetrack is in operation that any sound of the outside world can be heard.

Milano Golf Club first hosted the Italian Open in 1951 and has staged the national open no fewer than nine times – only Villa d'Este has hosted more national open golf championships down the years.