Udine

The small settlement of Fagagna sits between Udine and San Daniele del Friulu in the wooded foothills of the Carnic Alps and it’s an absolutely stunning location for the golf facility at Golf Club Udine which occupies a 180-acre property a mile north of the town centre.

Architect Marco Croze laid out the initial nine holes here in 1972 – one of several collaborative golf projects he completed with Commander John Harris around that time – and he returned twenty-two years later to add a second nine.

The course extends to 5,890 metres from the championship tees, configured with returning nines and, rather unusually, it features consecutive par fives at the 7th and 8th and back-to-back par threes at holes 11 and 12.

Notable holes include strong par fours at the right doglegged 6th and uphill 9th whilst, on the back nine, the par five 15th (rated stroke index 4) plays all of 489 metres downhill to a green that’s protected front left by a small pond.

Following a change of ownership in 2013, significant improvements were made to the course, resulting in it hosting the 2016 Italian Senior Open, the ninth time a European Senior Tour event had been played on Italian soil.