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Golf in Apulia: Valle d'Itria and Salento
When the Knights of Malta tower at Savelletri became a hotel, it was, according to the Michelin Guide, the first time the word “masseria” had been used for an accommodation. Today the same property runs the course overlooking the Adriatic, and a few minutes away there are two more masserie with a nine-hole course.
7 min read
Food & WineCooking classes at luxury resorts
Tortelli on Wednesday, gnocchi on Thursday, tagliatelle on Friday: at Villa d'Este the pasta class runs to a precise calendar, and four luxury resorts offer an afternoon that needs no golf bag.
7 min read
Golf TravelGolf in Venice and the Veneto, from the Lido to the Asolo hills
Building the Albarella course meant reclaiming more than two million cubic metres of sand from the sea; in Venice, meanwhile, the clubhouse is an Austrian fort. Veneto golf runs from the links of the Lido to the woods of the Cansiglio, and it works best with the right base.
9 min read
Food & WineThe nineteenth hole: the restaurants of Italian golf clubs
At La Mandria the club menu is split into a “Blue Route” and a “Yellow Route”, like the two eighteen-hole courses. It is not the only club where the table says something about the place: here is where the nineteenth hole is worth a reservation.
7 min read
Golf TravelWhen to play golf in Italy: the region-by-region calendar
On 29 May the course at Courmayeur reopens, while Sestriere only plays from June; on 1 January Marco Simone is closed, while Rapallo plays all year round. Golf in Italy does not have a single season: it has one for every altitude.
14 min read
Golf Know-howLearning golf on holiday
Twenty euros: that is what the Italian Golf Federation's GOLFPOP Card costs, with a lesson from a teaching professional, a membership card and insurance, and since 2026 it is the simplest way to give the game a try. After that come the clubs' courses and the hotels' packages, all the way to a first handicap.
5 min read
Luxury LivingHistoric gardens to visit
On Isola Madre the camellias are already in flower in March, azaleas and proteas in April, hibiscus and bougainvillea in midsummer: five historic gardens in northern Italy that change their look with the seasons, and the golf courses to pair them with.
8 min read
Golf TravelCar hire and transfers for golfers in Italy
To hire a car in Italy, according to the ACI, you need a credit card in the driver's name, and holders of a non-EU licence also need an international driving permit. But for a golfer the decisive question is a different one: car or transfer?
5 min read
Great CoursesGolf and the environment: the courses with GEO certification
In 2013, according to the club, a Sardinian course born in a pine forest planted on a desert of sand became the first in Italy to earn GEO certification. The list has grown since, but it is not long: here are seven certified clubs and what the badge means.
6 min read
Luxury StaysGolf hotels on Lake Como: Villa d'Este and the Lario clubs
In 2024 Villa d'Este bought back the Montorfano course, which had belonged to the hotel until the late 1970s: a century after Peter Gannon's design, golf on the Lario is once again played at home.
6 min read
Luxury StaysHotels with all-inclusive golf packages: what they really cover
Two green fees per room per night: that is how Verdura builds its Golf Inclusive, while at Terme di Saturnia the second player pays half. Twelve Italian hotels sell golf as part of the stay, but each counts the rounds in its own way.
7 min read
Great CoursesAre there links courses in Italy?
Sand, dunes, wind and the sea close by: the ingredients of the Scottish links are found at very few courses in Italy, and one was built with sand dredged from the sea.
7 min read
Wellness & SpaSpas for families
At six you may enter the Quellenhof's Family Spa, at sixteen its rooftop spa, and at Almar in Jesolo the spa is closed to anyone under sixteen. With children, the minimum age matters more than the square metres: here is where a golf hotel's spa truly welcomes the whole family.
6 min read
Luxury StaysDiscreet luxury: the 4-star superior hotels for golfers
Three hotels, two regions and a label that does not apply everywhere: “4-star superior” exists only where a regional law has provided for it. In Merano and in Pula, each hotel solves the golf question in its own way.
7 min read
Golf TravelItaly, Spain or Portugal for a golf holiday? The comparison
Spain has 496 courses and around 299,400 registered golfers, Portugal 88 courses and 18,499 registered players, Italy 232 clubs according to the 2019 federation figure. Different numbers mean different trips: here is how to choose, without cheering for anyone.
5 min read
Food & WineLakeside restaurants after golf
On Lake Garda an osteria with a terrace over the water, on Lake Como a veranda facing the lake, on Lake Maggiore a gourmet table looking out to the Islands: where to dine after your round without straying far from the courses.
6 min read
Golf Know-howHow to book a tee time in Italy
On a club's website there is a form that promises a tee time, but in Venice that request only counts once the secretary's office confirms it. In Italy a tee time has at least four different routes, and it pays to know which applies where before choosing the course.
6 min read
Luxury StaysRelais & Châteaux for golfers in Italy: three houses, three ways to play
A Provençal-style house in Garlenda, a late nineteenth-century villa in Franciacorta, a hunting lodge from 1624 above Merano: three Relais & Châteaux with golf on the horizon, and only one course within walking distance.
6 min read
Luxury LivingGolf and horses: resorts with riding stables
About twenty school horses, Haflingers, Icelandics and warmbloods, in a stable with a 60 by 24 metre indoor arena: in the Passeier Valley, anyone who stops playing golf can be in the saddle straight away.
7 min read
Great CoursesRoyal Park I Roveri: two courses at the gates of Turin
“The most beautiful hole in Italy”: that is how La Gazzetta dello Sport described the 17th at Royal Park I Roveri in 2011. At Fiano, two 18-hole courses share the former Savoy hunting reserve.
7 min read
Golf Know-howTravel insurance for golfers: what the membership card covers and what it does not
One hundred and twenty thousand euros for death or injury, fifteen thousand for medical expenses: these are the limits the Italian Golf Federation's policy summarises for its members, and they are no substitute for travel insurance. Here is how to read them before you leave.
5 min read
Golf TravelGolf courses with lake views in Italy
On a clear day, from the 10th tee at Golf des Iles Borromées, you can see four lakes and the skyscrapers of Milan with the naked eye. It is not the only Italian course with a view over water: here are ten clubs, from Garda to Como, from Maggiore to Varese.
8 min read
Golf TravelGolf in Friuli Venezia Giulia
The Padriciano course was handed over to Trieste's golfers by the Anglo-Americans in early 1955, at Tarvisio the motto is “One club. Three countries”, and Lignano staged the Women's Italian Open in 1993 and 1994. Six 18-hole courses, from the Karst to the lagoon.
8 min read
Luxury StaysCastles and medieval villages turned resorts
A fresco by Pietro Lorenzetti from 1345 stayed hidden under plaster until 1876, in a church a mile from a medieval village in Montalcino. Today the village is a hotel with a golf course: it is the first of eight historic residences for those who play.
9 min read
Luxury StaysArriving by helicopter: hotels with a heliport for golfers
Behind the Quellenhof in Lazise there is a helicopter landing pad, and at Verdura the heliport sits inside the resort. Five luxury hotels say they can take a landing, and two offer indirect solutions: here is where, and what to ask.
6 min read