Golf Club La Rossera

The Rossera covers about 240,000 square metres on the ridge between Chiuduno and Carobbio degli Angeli, in a wood of oaks and chestnuts. It was founded in 1972 and the club describes it as the twenty-first course built in Italy. The layout has nine holes and is typically hilly, and the club calls it one of the best nine-hole courses in Italy for the quality of its turf.

Its distinctive feature is the Donizetti Course: each hole is tied to an opera by the Bergamo-born composer, with texts by Gianluigi Bertoli describing its character. The 1st, a par 5, is Lucia di Lammermoor; the 3rd, Elisir d'amore, is the most scenic hole, with the feeling that the ball plunges toward the plain; the 4th, Maria Stuarda, is a dogleg right with woods on the left, a gully on the right and a wide bunker about a hundred metres from the green, hidden by trees.

The 5th, La Favorita, has tee and green that seem suspended over the valley; the 6th, La figlia del reggimento, starts uphill and has a green visible only at the last moment; the 7th, Lucrezia Borgia, is a par 5 that drops from a raised tee toward a wide green with a view over the plain. The 8th, La zingara, is the long uphill par 4 judged the hardest, while the 9th, Anna Bolena, is a steeply climbing par 3.

The club's official website was down for maintenance at the time of research, so an up-to-date green fee list and the handicap required cannot be given. Prices, bookings and opening times should be requested from the office (+39 035 838600, [email protected]). The club is at via Montebello 4, in Chiuduno, about 15 kilometres from Bergamo.

The opening times given in the sources do not agree: the official page archived in 2024 spoke of opening from Wednesday to Monday, closed on Tuesday, from 8:30 am to 7:30 pm, while the Bergamo tourist board says Friday to Monday. It is therefore best to check the opening days before setting out.

The clubhouse has a large, comfortable changing room, while the bar and restaurant are reached from the office. The highlight is the panoramic terrace over the plain: on the clearest days the view reaches the Monte Rosa massif, the Milan skyline and the Piacenza Apennines, with sunsets that the club calls marvellous.

The practice ground is next to the 1st hole and, according to the club, a courtesy shuttle takes players from the driving range to the 9th green, and from there to the clubhouse. In 2024 the website listed 16 covered bays and a pitching green, as well as a restaurant and bar.