Golf Club Tirrenia

Golf Club Tirrenia is a nine-hole course designed by the English architect Ken Cotton and planned in 1967. It lies in the San Rossore Nature Park, amid centuries-old pines and Mediterranean scrub, and has been affiliated to the Italian Golf Federation since 1968. The club describes it as a “harmonious and stimulating” course and says Golf Digest named it the best nine-hole course in Italy; the year of the award is not given.

The nine holes add up to par 35: two par 5s (the 1st and 6th), four par 4s (2, 3, 5 and 8) and three par 3s (4, 7 and 9). The 1st calls for a delicate tee shot, with two bunkers to the right of the green; the 2nd is a dogleg left with a bunker about 200 metres from the tee; the 3rd has a green of more than 400 square metres guarded by two sand bunkers. The 4th is the easiest, but the wind affects the choice of iron. The 6th has a central fairway bunker and small dunes around the green; the 7th plays over 190 metres; the 8th, a long par 4, is the hardest by handicap, at HCP 1; the 9th demands a carry of more than 170 metres over the bunker on the left.

The woods punish wayward shots and the greens are small: the club asks players to be able to shape the ball from tee to green. The website does not publish the overall length.

Tee times are booked through the secretary's office on +39 050 37518, by WhatsApp on +39 342 871 3981 or at [email protected]. According to the club, tee times are open except on competition days, and the course is playable all year round thanks to the mild climate and the shelter the woods give from the wind.

The website publishes no green fee list, minimum handicap or weekly closing day: these are details to ask the secretary's office. The club also welcomes dogs, according to its presentation page.

The clubhouse has a panoramic terrace overlooking the 1st hole, with a bar and restaurant, a reading room, a bridge room and a lounge with a television. The restaurant serves traditional Tuscan cuisine and fish, with a view of San Rossore Park.

For those who want to learn, two PGAI instructors give individual lessons and lessons for beginners, and there is a Junior Club for young players. The atmosphere, the club writes, is “welcoming and family-like”, designed to foster relationships among members.