Parco de Medici (Bianco & Blu)

Set out by David Mezzacane within a former Pope’s hunting estate on the outskirts of Rome, the Bianco and Blu nines comprise the championship course at the 27-hole Golf Club Parco de’ Medici, with the shorter Rosso nine considered a great warm-up track.

Ambitious plans were in place for the site to become a great seaplane airport but when that project was abandoned, attention turned to transforming the flat, barren property into a golfing complex, necessitating the excavation of several lakes to raise the level of the landscape and provide fill for contouring the holes.

It’s no surprise therefore to learn that water hazards appear prominently at several holes on the (3056-metre, par 35) Bianco and the (3,361-metre, par 37) Blu. Both par threes on the Bianco require tee shots over water and the 3-hole stretch starting at the 5th on the Blu features water hazards around each of the greens.