Designed by Kyle Phillips, the 18-hole East course at the Verdura Resort is complemented by both the 18-hole West course and an entertaining 9-hole par three layout.
Verdura Resort (East Links)
Designed by Kyle Phillips, the 18-hole East course at the Verdura Resort is complemented by both the 18-hole West course and an entertaining 9-hole par three layout.
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The Verdura resort lies 200 kilometres west of Catania airport so it’s around 2½ hours to get here by road if Catania–Fontanarossa Airport is where you enter Sicily. Alternatively, it’ll take an hour less if you come by road from Palermo airport to the north. Whichever way you travel (I came one way and left the other) it’s a lovely journey on excellent highways with plenty of interesting landforms to enjoy along the route.
The resort was still shut for the winter season when I was here recently but I’d come for the golf on offer, not the 5-star hotel, and was glad to meet up again with Golf Development Manager Donato Di Ponziano, who I met in 2017 at Costa Navarino in Greece when he picked up an award for his 30-year-long service to European golf at the PGAs of Europe annual congress.
Donato showed me around and set up a meeting with Mauro, the head greenkeeper who was on site in 2018 to help repair the terrible damage caused by a week-long storm that hit the island. From images he showed me on his mobile phone, it was astonishing to see the devastation caused at the time – not that you would now know anything untoward had ever occurred five and a half years ago!
What elevates the very linksy East course to another level is the quality of the fairway and greenside bunkering – as is the case with all the more recent Kyle Phillips designs I’ve played such as Bernardus in The Netherlands and PGA National in the Czech Republic. Fairways are wide and undulating, greens are contoured with lots of run-offs and tee boxes are generally raised so you can see almost everything ahead.
The par four 1st – a really friendly, slightly downhill par four (rated stroke index 17) which doglegs right to a raised green – largely sets the tone for the round: you’ll play resort golf all right but there’s still lots of challenge in the way the fairways and greens have been shaped. And if the wind is blowing hard (as it often is I was told) then don’t expect to play to handicap.
The first direct encounter with the coast arrives at the second shortest par four on the card, the 330-metre 6th, where a pond guards the front and left of the beachside green, mandating an aerial approach shot. The same water hazard then runs to the left of the par three 7th which turns inland, with out of bounds to the right of the hole.
I found the next interesting aspect of the East course to be the large double green now shared between the new par five 8th and par four 10th holes, which the architect discussed with the owner during the course reconstruction. Apparently, Sir Rocco is a keen golfer who appreciates all the elements of traditional links golf and he was delighted to have this idea incorporated into the design.
There’s only one par three on the longer back nine and it’s reserved for our second return to the coast at the par three 13th, where tee shots play over a small inlet to an elevated green on the water’s edge. Holes 14-16 are routed around the perimeter of the hotel complex before the closing couple of holes are played out on the other side of the driving range.
In truth, it’s rather an anti-climactic end to the round compared to the West which has its final five holes located close to the shore so I fully appreciate some players might prefer the West to the East, mainly due to its memorable closing sequence of holes. Still, you must play both layouts if you’ve come this far then you can decide which of the two tracks you like best – you’ll probably only be splitting hairs though…
Jim McCann
Jim McCann
The latest ranking of the Top 100 Golf Courses in the World serves as the ultimate global golf bucket list. Most members of our World Top 100 Panel are seasoned golfers, each playing 20-30 of these courses annually while travelling extensively over decades to form their opinions on others. We recognise that opinions vary—even among our panel members. Rankings are subjective, and there are undoubtedly 50 or more courses in the UK and USA alone that could easily fit onto this list. Links Golf Pilgrimages The rankings
California, United States
New Jersey, United States
Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
New York, United States
New York, United States
We produced an Italian resort article last summer which focused on several golf facilities spread across the mainland of Italy. We’re now revisiting this country, starting in the north then working our way south but this time we’re including the Mediterranean islands of Sicily and Sardinia, where we shine a light on half a dozen resorts that are worthy of closer scrutiny. Of all the “mainstream” golfing nations in Europe, Italy’s the one that hides its light under a bushel the most. Perhaps in this year of the Ryder Cup in Rome it’s time we knew a little more about it. Le Le Robinie Our latest Italian resort journey starts outside Milan near Malpensa airport, at Le Robinie Golf Club, where Jack Nicklaus designed his first Italian course in the early 1990s. The terrain’s pretty flat around here so a fair amount of soil was shifted to fashion the fairways, with the closing holes on both nines routed around a couple of lakes located close to the clubhouse. There’s also a fair number of bunkers dotted around this parkland layout so, with water and sand much in evidence, it’s resort golf all the way during a round at this modern facility. The accommodation extends to a number of guest rooms within the clubhouse, all with air conditioning and private bathroom with hot tub or shower. An additional seventy apartments – comprising studio, 2-room or 3-room apartments – are also available, each with a private patio, terrace or balcony. The leisure complex includes a swimming pool and a well-equipped gymnasium and the Restaurant Le Robinie (consisting of three dining rooms spread across three levels) serves dishes from a Mediterranean-themed menu. Poggio dei Medici Three hundred kilometres southeast of Milan, outside Florence, lies Poggio dei Medici Golf Club which opened for play thirty years ago. Anchored by a 16th-century hunting lodge, the Villa di Cignano, which acts as the clubhouse, the course is set amongst rolling hills with open parkland holes weaving across a picture postcard landscape. Starting in 1999, five consecutive editions of the Ladies Italian Open were staged here, with the five winners emerging from five different countries for these events. The Unahotels accommodation offers 70 guest rooms equipped with things like a mini fridge, flat-screen TV, bathrobes and dressing gowns. A cold buffet breakfast is served here every morning and the bar serves a wide variety of drinks throughout the day. There’s an outdoor swimming pool, jacuzzi and sauna and the spa centre also provides fitness classes. Guests who want more than just golf can expend more energy with mountain biking, horse riding and tennis. Terme di Saturnia A leisurely 3-hour drive south from Florence through beautiful Tuscan terrain brings us to the golf course in the old spa town of Terme di Saturnia, where the climate and the hot sulphurous springs are intended to aid recuperation and restoration of body, mind and spirit. Ron Fream set out the course here 16 years ago and it was built with the prime consideration of respecting and safeguarding local nature in order to gain Italian Golf Federation ecological certification. There are 124 guest rooms (39 of which are suites) at the resort and they vary in size from 18-25 square metre for a superior room to 75 square metres for a grand suite. The world-class spa has a thermal lake in the centre of the complex and there are 5 outdoor thermal pools, along with whirlpools, a sauna, sensory showers and a whole range of massages, body treatments, wellness and beauty programs – thermal therapies are even available for locals who are entitled to one cycle per year paid by the Italian NHS! Il Picciolo Etna We leave the Italian mainland now and head to the Mediterranean island of Sicily, where the 18-hole layout at Il Picciolo Etna Golf Resort & Spa has operated since the late 1980s. Host venue for the Ladies Italian Open from 1995 to 1997 (and again in 2011), the course occupies hilly ground to the north of Mount Etna, where holes are set out as two returning nines. Measuring almost 5,900 metres from the back markers, the course is a Luigi Rota Caremoli design which plays to a par of 72, with the very short par three 15th one of the feature holes on the scorecard. Accommodation amounts to 98 air-conditioned guest rooms within the hotel (21 deluxe, 22 cottage, 46 classic and 9 suites) along with 6 clubhouse rooms. Breakfast and dinner are served in La Ghiandaia restaurant, with lunch available in the Il Palmento clubhouse restaurant. The Birdie Bar is open in the evening and the Pool Bar is also available for refreshments from mid-morning to early evening during the summer. The Spa centre offers a number of services – from heated swimming pool to sensory showers – and there’s a range of body treatments and massages which can be arranged by appointment. Borgo di Luce I Monasteri On the south side of Mount Etna, positioned between the UNESCO World Heritage sites of Syracuse and Noto, the Borgo di Luce I Monasteri Golf Resort features an 18-hole (par 71) layout designed by architects David and Vincenzo Mezzacane. Holes are set out among groves of citrus trees and prickly pear cactus, with water hazards to be negotiated on several holes, most noticeably at the par three 9th and par four 18th where a pond separates the greens. The 5-star on-site hotel is a former Benedictine monastery comprising 102 exquisitely furnished guest rooms and suites located on the ground floor in various parts of the hotel’s three main buildings. The pool bar provides light lunches, while Le Ceramiche restaurant serves à la carte dinners based on Mediterranean cuisine. The Zagara spa offering guests the use of a Turkish bath, sensory shower, sauna, hot tub, relaxation area and a range of treatments. Verdura Occupying a wonderful 2-kilometre stretch of coastline on the west side of Sicily, the Verdura Resort’s 45-hole golf facility was designed by Kyle Phillips, opening for play just over a decade ago now. The two championship 18-hole layouts – East and West – are the main attraction, supported by a 9-hole par three course, driving range and practice area. Unfortunately, severe storms in late 2018 caused an embankment to breach, resulting in extensive flooding across both the original layouts. Not to worry, the architect was quickly called in to rearrange the routing and introduce several remodelled holes and before you know it, business was back to normal once again! The 5-star hotel is a member of the famous Rocco Forte Hotels Group, offering 156 guest rooms, 35 suites and 20 villas. Apart from golf, on-site activities include a Water Sports Club, Tennis Club, football pitch and an enormous 60-metre outdoor pool. For relaxation, there’s a luxurious spa set amid the olive, orange and lemon trees, with four thalassotherapy pools, a 20-metre lap pool, steam bath, sauna and 11 treatment rooms. The hotel’s organic farm is handpicked daily, with produce used in the preparation of gourmet meals for the six restaurants and bars. Is Molas Three hundred kilometres from the north coast of Sicily lies the south coast of Sardinia and the 27-hole golf complex at the Is Molas resort,near the small town of Pula. The original Championship 18-hole course was designed by the British partnership of Ken Cotton, Charles Lawrie and Frank Pennink in the mid-1970s, and there are views from the fairways to the nearby tower of Nora on the coastal ruins of an ancient Roman city. Fairways are routed over moderately undulating terrain, with water hazards coming into play between the 9th and 14th holes. The on-site 4-star hotel contains 70 air-conditioned guest rooms in four categories (classic, comfort, family and superior) and there are 2-room apartments in the nearby Residence Le Ginestre residential development. The restaurant seats up to 160 people in the garden of the hotel, facing on to the swimming pool. The covered terrace of the hotel pool bar (La Pergola) serves drinks, snacks and light meals prepared with typical Sardinian products while La 19, the “Golf Pool Club” is the ideal chill out place to relax after a round. Is Arenas Drive 2 hours northwest from Is Molas and you’ll arrive at the Is Arenas resort on the west coast of Sardinia, where Robert von Hagge carved out the resort’s 18-hole layout from dense woodland twenty years ago. Juniper and pine trees frame every hole here as the course winds its way across a mildly contoured, sandy-soiled landscape. The flamboyant American architect had this to say when asked what it took to produce such a fine golfing layout: “all the natural elements that it offers – sand dunes, forest, water and an exceptional climate – are a perfect combination for a unique experience (providing) an unlimited carpet of colours, fragrances and vital energies.” Accommodation at the Is Arenas Private Golf Foresterie boutique hotel is for golfers only – with a maximum occupancy of 40 players – and it comprises a number of air-conditioned villas, houses and suites nestled in the trees next to the golf course. Located one and a half kilometres away towards the beach, the 5-star Is Arenas Resort provides 70 guest rooms (varying from 30 square metre Classic rooms to 43 square metre Junior Suites) along with a wellness centre that incorporates a whirlpool, Turkish bath, fitness room and a variety of treatments. The beach is a 5-minute walk away, extending to six kilometres along the coastline. Pevero Another 2½-hour drive northeast from Is Arenas brings us to the smart Costa Smeralda district in the northeast corner of Sardinia and Pevero Golf Club. Fifty years ago, Robert Trent Jones Senior and Ron Kirby were engaged by none other than the Aga Khan to set out eighteen holes on the peninsula between the bays of Cala di Volpe and Volpero and six years after it first opened for play, the 35th edition of the Italian Open was staged here in 1978, with South African Dale Hayes winning the event by three shots from his nearest rivals. Overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, it’s a spectacular place to play but when the infamous Mistral wind blows then controlling a golf ball round this course is a tough task for even the professional players – as evidenced by the Dale Hayes aggregate total of five over par when he claimed the national Open 45 years ago. The golf club has close associations with four local hotels. The first, and nearest, is Hotel Cala Di Volpe, with 121 guest rooms and a large, lagoon-like saltwater pool. Close by, Hotel Romazzino has 100 guest rooms, including a Presidential Suite on the top floor. To the north of the golf course, the Cervo Hotel in the adjacent resort of Porto Servo has 80 guestrooms, ranging from 16 square metre classic rooms to a 142 square metre Presidential Suite. On the other side of this small seaside town sits the Hotel Pitrizza, with 66 suites and villas that look out onto the shimmering waters of Liscia di Vacca bay. If you have any comment to make on the above article then please use the “WRITE A RESPONSE” link at the bottom of this page. Jim McCann Editor Top 100 Golf Courses
Verdura Resort, Rocco Forte’s Sicilian Jewel The mantelpiece at Rocco Forte’s Verdura Resort in Sicily is brimming with just about every award available – and I’d heard the golf wasn’t too shabby either – so when I was invited by The Azalea Group to experience the luxury resort, set on the south coast of the Mediterranean’s largest island, I jumped at the chance. Located a few kilometres from the historic spa town and fishing port of Sciacca, about an hour’s drive from Palermo Airport, the five-star Vedura Resort – with its award-winning spa and three Kyle Phillips-designed golf courses – promised a taste of the good life at the very top end of the luxury market. The timing of the trip was perfect. The European Tour was also in town as the resort was hosting the 2017 Rocco Forte Open, named after Sir Rocco, the English hotelier who established the Rocco Forte Hotels group back in 1996. Verdura is no stranger to top-flight professional golf. The second staging of the Sicilian Open was played here in 2012 following the inaugural tournament, which was previously hosted at Donnafugata – located further down the island’s south coast. Denmark’s Thorbjørn Olesen claimed the 2012 title at Verdura (his maiden European Tour victory) when the tournament was played over a composite layout using an amalgam of holes from both the East and West courses. I’ve been lucky enough to stay at many fine golf resorts down the years, but never have I felt at home more quickly than here at Verdura. After being on property for less than twenty-four hours, it seemed as though I’d actually been here for days. There’s clearly something in the Sicilian air that soothes and calms both body and mind. I’ll never forget the sunrise view from my “Grand Suite” casting shadows across the 16th fairway of the West course with the sun-drenched Mediterranean as a shimmering backdrop. Since setting up on his own in 1997, after spending sixteen years with Robert Trent Jones II Golf Course Design, Kyle Phillips has made a bit of a name for himself in the world of golf course architecture. His new millennium creation of Kingsbarns (at the Home of Golf in Scotland) catapulted the American designer into the limelight. Phillips has since fashioned new course projects in his native America, South Korea, Morocco, Abu Dhabi, Sweden and also here in Italy. The resort boasts 45 golf holes, with two 18-hole layouts (East and West) plus a fun 1,056-yard 9-hole par three course. It was nine holes from each of the main layouts that made up the composite track for the 2017 European Tour event. In my view it was absolutely the right thing to do. The Tournament course brought in the best holes from each layout to perfectly showcase the property to the players and those watching from around the world. Comments about the quality of the course from the European Tour players were consistently complimentary. Despite the resort hosting the 2012 Sicilian Open, the 2017 Rocco Forte Open was a significant step up the ladder and the event was undoubtedly a success, with Spain’s Alarvo Quiros winning after a play-off with Zander Lombard from South Africa. It was wonderful to see a return to form from Quiros, although he did stumble on Sunday’s back nine as his 7-shot lead with 12 holes to play had disappeared on the 72nd tee. We followed the final group, and although it was an exciting and dramatic climax, it wasn’t easy to watch. As far as the two main courses are concerned, the East generally has the edge over the West in terms of rankings, but I am not too sure, because in my opinion the West has the better set of closing holes which hug the coastline. The original brief from Sir Rocco Forte to Kyle Phillips was to create two equal courses in terms of quality – that has certainly been achieved. There is no main course / relief course situation at Verdura, and I would be more than happy to play either layout time and time again. During the trip we were luckily enough to play the Tournament course the day after the European Tour event, and a few of us decided to “go macho”, choosing the tees that were in play just the day before at 7,200+ yards. It’s fair to say this yardage was a little longer than my comfortable distance! Although I didn’t quite play to handicap, I wasn’t too far adrift, so I was pleased and pleasantly surprised. For those interested, the routing configuration for the 2017 Tournament course was as follows: Front nine – 1st East #1, 2nd East #4, 3rd West #8, 4th West #9, 5th West #10, 6th East #5, 7th East #6, 8th East #7, 9th East #8 Back nine – 10th East #9, 11th West #1, 12th West #14, 13th West #15, 14th West #16, 15th West #17, 16th West #18, 17th East #17, 18th East #18 Verdura Resort is one of twenty-four venues in a strong network of European Tour Properties, and it’s the second facility in the Italian collection alongside the Ryder Cup 2022 hosts, Marco Simone Golf & Country Club. The German writer and statesman, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, travelled to Sicily in 1787 and he was renowned for his quotes. One line in particular rings true and it’s widely used as one of Verdura’s monikers: “To have seen Italy without having seen Sicily is to have not seen Italy at all.” This was my first visit to Sicily – it certainly won’t be my last. Andy Newmarch Top 100 Golf Courses
We’ve re-ranked courses in Italy every two years since producing our inaugural Top 30 in 2008. Our ranking panel has been increased this time around, allowing us to cast the net a bit wider and gather more data which then lets us expand the regional lists a little bit. In a country of around 60 million people, there are about eighty-seven thousand registered golfers playing on 312 different courses, according to the European Golf Participation Report which was last published by the R&A and EGA for 2021. That means we feature more than one in five of all the courses found across the nation. It’s a big year for golf in Italy as the Ryder Cup matches will be held at the end of September on the Championship course at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club outside Rome. In preparation for the event, the layout has undergone a significant upgrade to catapult it up our listings, but more of that later. First of all, we announce our new number 1, a layout that has never been out of the top three ranking positions in any of the eight Italian chart editions published so far. Indeed, it was a former #1 in the period 2016-17 so sitting on the summit is nothing new at this location. Royal Park I Roveri We present the Allianz by Robert Trent Jones Sr. course at Royal Park I Roveri in Turin as our new Italian #1, advancing one place from the runner-up position. Laid out within a 16th-century hunting estate which is now the Parco Regionale della Mandria conservation area, this course was Robert Trent Jones Senior’s first foray into golf course design in Italy during the early 1970s. Further down the new standings, the Hurdzan & Fry-designed Allianz Bank course at Royal Park I Roveri came into play seventeen years ago and it now makes a substantial climb of seventeen places to #39. Verdura The East course at Rocco Forte’s Verdura resort on the island of Sicily has been a permanent fixture in the national Top 10 since entering at number 8 in 2012. It now rises three spots to its highest position of #5 (and the neighbouring West course also nudges two places forward to #8). With those lofty listings, it’s easy to see why the Kyle Phillips-designed golf complex at Verdura is regarded as one of the best 36-hole facilities in the country. Marco Simone The Championship course at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome soars an incredible twenty-two places to #11, not long after a major upgrade was carried out a couple of years back by Dave Sampson of European Golf Design in consultation with Tom Fazio II. Currently the host club for the Italian Open, Marco Simone will stage the Ryder Cup later this year, with lots of opportunities to enjoy dramatic match play twists and turns on the redesigned layout. La Bagnaia The Royal Golf La Bagnaia course at La Bagnaia Golf Resort near Siena in Tuscany climbs five places to #20 in our new standings. Laid out next to a couple of medieval villages where visiting golfers can stay and play in style, this 18-hole layout is a Robert Trent Jones Junior creation that’s set up as an “inland links,” with some of the holes routed around the sparkling waters of five attractive lakes. Antognolla Situated a 90-minute drive east of La Bagnaia, close to Perugia, lies another Robert Trent Jones Junior design at Antognolla Golf, which also rises five places to #26. The property dates back to the 12th century (more recently it was an asset of the Agnelli family) and the intention is for the castle and estate to become an international resort with the golf course as its sporting centrepiece. San Domenico The 18-hole layout at San Domenico Golf near Fasano in the Puglia region progresses eight places up the chart to #29 (having previously occupied the #13 spot in our Italian rankings back in 2012). Designed by Andrew Haggar when he worked with European Golf Design twenty years ago, the course staged eight editions of the season-ending Challenge Tour Grand Final from 2005 to 2012 before the event moved to the Middle East. Le Robinie Located close to Milan’s Malpensa airport, the 18-hole course at Le Robinie Golf Club shoots a noteworthy thirteen places up the new chart to #32. This is where Jack Nicklaus first put his signature stamp on an Italian course and he and his design and construction teams had their work cut out to transform a largely level landscape into the exciting golfing grounds that eventually emerged from a fair bit of soil shifting. Franciacorta The Brut and Satèn nines at the 27-hole Franciacorta Golf Club outside Brescia leap a commendable ten places up to #36. These eighteen holes were originally set out by Pete Dye and Marco Croze in the mid-1980s within a former clay quarry at Corte Franca. A few national amateur and professional championships have been held at the club and a third Rosè nine was added in 2009, with hole names assigned (as with the other two loops) to famous local wineries. Verona Golf Club Verona’s 18-hole layout was a chart newcomer in 2020 and it now heads a further nine places in the right direction to #43. The original 9-hole course in the early 1960s was the work of John Harris before Giulio Cavalsani helped redesign and extend the layout between 1969 and 1971. In more recent times, Baldovino Dassù and Alvise Rossi Fioravanti, have, in the words of the club, made it “more aggressive” so expect a good game of golf when playing here. Torino Torino Golf Club La Mandria’s Blue course has been a Top 10 constant since 2010 (hosting the Italian Open in 2013 and 2014) but the Turin club’s Yellow course (up eight to #46) is also starting to make its mark after a chart debut last time around. Marco Croze was the architect behind extending the original John Harris-designed Blue course to a 27-hole layout before adding another nine hole to fashion the 18-hole Yellow course that’s now in play. To view the entire detailed list of our latest Top 60 Golf Courses of Italy click the link. View list here. If you have any comment to make on the above article then please use the “WRITE A RESPONSE” link at the bottom of this page. Jim McCann Editor Top 100 Golf Courses
