Golf Hotel Castelconturbia

Golf Club Castelconturbia has 27 holes designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. over more than one million square metres, among old trees, streams and small lakes, with Monte Rosa as a backdrop. The layout includes and extends the original nine holes and has three nines: Yellow (par 36, 3,085 m), Blue (par 36, 3,145 m) and Red (3,266 m). All 27 holes have been open since September 1987.

The course hosted the Italian Open in 1991 and 1998, and the Challenge Tour in 2020; the 66 course record is held by José María Olazábal and Costantino Rocca. The club says it ranks among the top ten courses in continental Europe and was awarded the number one spot in Italy in 2003.

The driving range, along the first hole of the Red course, has 20 open-air and 10 covered bays, TrackMan Range technology and a Fitting Center. The short-game area is over 5,000 m² with 3 target greens and practice bunkers; there are two putting greens, one with 9 and one with 18 holes.

The 18-hole green fee is €91 on weekdays and €113 at weekends in low season (€113 and €140 in high season, 1 April to 15 July and 1 September to 31 October); a set of clubs rents for €55 and a GPS golf cart for €60. Among the hotel's packages, 3 nights in a double room with breakfast, two dinners and a welcome drink start from €279 per person.

Golf Hotel Castelconturbia has 21 rooms and, by its own description, looks over a million square metres of green with Monte Rosa and the Alps beyond. The rooms are air-conditioned, with minibar, flat-screen TV, a bathroom with shower and free wi-fi. They range from the single to the Standard double overlooking the inner garden; the Comfort double faces the golf course and adds bathrobe, slippers and a kettle with tea and coffee; the larger Junior Suite overlooks the pool. Breakfast is a sweet and savoury buffet, served indoors or on the terrace.

The hotel also has equipped meeting rooms. For day trips, Lake Maggiore is 10 km away.

The restaurant, with a large covered terrace over the closing holes of the three nines, serves regional and international cooking and a wine cellar of selected labels, with ingredients from local producers. It is open every day 12 to 2.30 pm and 7.30 to 9.30 pm; there is also a fireplace room.

The outdoor pool, with snack bar, deckchairs and changing room with hot showers, is open from June to September, weather permitting.

The address is Via Castelconturbia 10, in Agrate Conturbia (Novara). According to the hotel, Milan Malpensa airport is 40 minutes by car and Lake Maggiore is 10 km away.

• A count's wish. The 1898 course came about through Count Gaspar Voli, a keen traveller to Scotland, who brought in his neighbour Count Avogadro di Collobiano; it was a nine-hole par 36, 2,000-yard layout.
• Foxhunting and golf. The club recalls the Savoy royal family coming to the estate for fox hunting.
• A history in stages. Shut around 1963, the course was re-founded in 1984 as Golf Club Castelconturbia.
• Trent Jones on the site. The architect recalled his first visit to the land as memorable, with trees and space ideal for a course.