Terme di Saturnia

The charming medieval settlement of Saturnia sits in the centre of Tuscan Maremma, almost equidistant between Livorno and Rome on the east side of Italy. It’s an old spa town where the climate and nearby hot sulphurous springs are meant to aid recuperation and restoration of body, mind and spirit.

Terme di Saturnia is also where American Ron Fream and his Golfplan team made their mark on the design front in 2007 with the introduction of a new course. As much of Fream’s time is taken up on Asian projects, this is a rare excursion for him into Italy as – apart from several Portuguese projects in the 1990s – any work on the continent has been in Scandinavia or central Europe.

Situated in the Terme di Saturnia valley, between Montemerano and Poggio Murella, the course was constructed on a property extending to over 170 acres with a prime consideration of respecting and safeguarding local nature in order to gain Italian Golf Federation ecological certification.

It’s safe to say the course has had no detrimental effect on the local wildlife; in fact the artificial lakes, ponds and natural streams have actually attracted new species, particularly between holes 13 to 18 where water comes into play at every hole.