Golf Club Trieste

The layout measures 5,810 metres for a par 70, with two par 5s and four par 3s. The extension to 18 holes is the work of the architect Giacomo Cabrini, who stitched the historic holes to the new ones: his aim, he writes, was that a guest should find it hard to tell which ones were already there. The course rewards the long drive, but even more the second shot, often asked to clear natural obstacles; and on the greens, apparently flat, Cabrini warns of the slopes.

The landscape is that of the Karst: woods, ancient oaks, lone pines in the middle of the fairway, thick rough. The 1st, a 413-metre par 4, tests you at once with the second half of the fairway sloping and a deep hollow beyond the green. The 8th is the hardest hole by handicap index: a blind dogleg left between two woods, with a green sloping steeply toward the entrance. From the tee of the 6th the view opens onto Mount Re, the Slovenian Nanos, while the raised tee of the 17th looks over the Gulf of Trieste; the finish, on the 18th, climbs toward a dogleg left with out of bounds along the whole hole and becomes treacherous on days of north-easterly wind.

The club states that it always accepts guests paying a green fee. The tee time is requested with the form on the website, with at least 48 hours' notice, or from the secretary's office. According to the price list published on the website in 2026, 18 holes cost €60 on weekdays and €80 on weekends and holidays; 9 holes cost €40. There are no seasonal differences.

The course is open all year and closes on non-holiday Tuesdays. Golf carts (€45 for guests over 18 holes), trolleys and bags can be rented; soft spikes are compulsory. Anyone playing without having paid the green fee, the club warns, pays double and is reported to their own club.

The clubhouse is furnished in Tudor style. On one side is the dining room of the Buca 19 restaurant, with tables overlooking the course, on the other the bar; in spring and summer meals are served outdoors with the gulf in front. The cooking looks to the Trieste seafaring tradition, with fish, seasonal vegetables and local wines. The restaurant is open from 9 am to 10 pm, with dinner by reservation only.

The practice ground has ten covered bays, useful in summer sun as in rain, besides putting, pitching and chipping greens. The club's long-standing pro is Ezio Pavan, here for more than forty years; teaching with him are Paola Tacoli, a former national team player, and Luca Salvetti. Beginner courses run all year, and the junior section won the Pallavicino National Under 18 Team Trophy in 2008.

• The par 5 shorter than expected. The longest hole on the course, the 2nd, measures 461 metres from the back tees: not much for a par 5.
• A 535-square-metre green. The one on the 18th is the largest on the course; the smallest, on the 3rd, measures 210.
• A school that trains pros. Among Ezio Pavan's pupils the club recalls Giulia Sergas, Pietro Iadanza and Paola Tacoli, who now teaches in turn at Padriciano.
• Three border languages. The hole sheets on the website are written in Italian, English and Slovenian, as befits a course a few kilometres from Slovenia.