Top 30 Golf Courses of Italy 2014
Top 100 updates its Italian golf course rankings
21 January 2014
With around 250 golf courses in Italy, there are plenty of options for the discerning visiting golfer. We’re still scratching the surface of Italy’s finest courses but we’ve recently uncovered a few more of the country’s lesser-known gems. We’re therefore pleased to report that we’ve extended our Italian coverage from a Top 20 in 2012 to a Top 30 for 2014.
Sicily may well be the largest Mediterranean island but up until recently Sicilian golf courses were in short supply. The introduction of two 18-hole Kyle Phillips-designed courses at the Verdura Golf Resort and the Gary Player-fashioned Parkland course that ably supports the contrasting Franco Piras-designed Links course at Donnafugata has completely raised the golfing bar on this charming island. All four courses feature prominently in our latest Italian rankings.
Our highest new entry is Ugolino or Florence Golf Club, a course that comes highly recommended by the Top 100 Team. Golf began in Florence way back in 1889 but the course in play today is a Cecil Blandford and Peter Gannon design from 1933, which was modified slightly in the 1960s by Piero Mancinelli. Our Canadian Correspondent Dave Finn visited Florence only a couple of months ago and commented as follows:
“The front nine swoops through hills and the key to these holes is to keep your tee shot in the fairway and back far enough so you can see the uphill greens. Shaping shots will definitely help your game but if you’d like a suggestion, keep your driver in the bag until you get to the 5th hole. The back nine is more level and offers better opportunities to charge the greens.”
Gannon and Blandford also designed Milano, which moves up six places to 8th and the venerable Roma-Acquasanta (Italy’s oldest golf course) also rises six positions to 11th.
Biella known locally as ‘Le Betulle’ (The Birches) is located in Valcarozza, one of the most evocative and serene spots in northern Italy. The club was founded in 1958 and the English architect John Morrison designed the course. Biella has been glued to the top of our Italian rankings since 2008.
As always we welcome feedback, so feel free to let us know what you think of our golf course coverage in Italy – there must be many other layouts in this country that are worthy of exposure on the Top 100 website?
Top 100 doesn’t claim to be “definitive” but we like to think we create the “most informed” golf course rankings in the business. If you’ve played any of our featured Italian courses, we’d love to know your thoughts, so why not post a course review?
Keith Baxter
Editor-in-Chief
www.top100golfcourses.com
Click the link to see the latest Italian Top 30 in detail.
