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.
In golfers' slang the nineteenth hole is the club bar or restaurant, where the round is played again in words. Italian clubs range from a snack between the two nines to a restaurant with a chef and a wine list. The tables that follow have something distinctive: a cook with a name, a close tie to the local area, a terrace worth the journey, and often doors open to those who do not play. Opening hours and closing days are those published by the clubs: they change with the seasons, so always book.
Piedmont: the region where the club truly sits down to dinner
In Piedmont, truffles, meats and wines make their way onto club menus.
Golf Club Colline del Gavi: La Locanda and the game
In the Gavi hills the restaurant La Locanda, open to non-players too, works the local produce with chef Andrea Bisio: game, mushrooms and truffles in season, a list of local white wines and a golfer's menu designed for the break between holes. It is closed on Tuesday. Those who wish to stay overnight can sleep in the guesthouse of the Golf Club Colline del Gavi, eleven rooms.
Circolo Golf Torino La Mandria: the signature of a starred restaurant
At the Circolo Golf Torino La Mandria the kitchen is run by La Credenza, a starred restaurant in San Maurizio Canavese. The menu follows the club's two courses: the Blue Route is Piedmontese cooking, the Yellow Route more contemporary. There is one important limit: according to the club, access is reserved for members, except for special events. It is a case where it pays to ask the secretary's office before counting on lunch.
La Margherita in Poirino and Cherasco: chefs and dishes from the Langhe
At the Golf Club La Margherita the venue is called Lo Swing: a bar, restaurant and pizzeria open to outside guests. The cooking is by chef Daniele Eusebio, whom the club presents as coming from the experience of the Turin team OINOS, with local, zero-mile produce; the pizzas are entrusted to a Neapolitan pizza maker. In summer, meals are served on the terrace and under the porticoes.
At Cherasco the bar-restaurant, with its veranda, brings the Langhe to the table without detours: tajarin, cheeses from the Val Maira, snails and beef from the Granda. In the kitchen are Massimiliano and Donatella Montese.
Two more Piedmontese addresses that the clubs declare open to everyone: at I Girasoli in Carmagnola the restaurant, founded in 1994, uses local meats and vegetables from the facility's organic garden, and the club considers its wine list its strong point; at La Serra in Valenza the cooking is local with regional wines, best with a reservation.
North-East: fish, hills and border cooking
Lignano: the risotto with bladder campion
The Ristorante Al Golf at Lignano has a terrace over the course and is open from 12 to 9:30 pm. The cooking focuses on fresh fish and on what the club calls border cuisine; among the dishes it highlights is the risotto with bladder campion, a wild herb of Friuli.
Golf Club Padova: Ser Petracco between terrace and fireplace
At the Golf Club Padova, in the Euganean Hills, the restaurant Ser Petracco changes season along with its dining room: in summer meals are served on the panoramic terrace, in autumn and winter there is a room with a fireplace for themed dinners.
Trieste and Pordenone: the gulf and tradition
At the Golf Club Trieste the restaurant Buca 19 has tables overlooking the course and, in spring and summer, meals are served outdoors with the gulf in front. Further west, at the Golf Pordenone in Castel d'Aviano, the Clubhouse restaurant, recently renovated, is open to everyone and offers dishes from the local tradition; it is closed on Monday.
Lombardy and South Tyrol: the gluten-free menu and Indian cooking
Il Colombaro in Salò: chef and gluten-free menu
The restaurant of the Golf Club Il Colombaro, in Salò, is open for lunch and dinner with chef Bruno Piovanelli. It has a business lunch and, a rare thing in a club, a gluten-free menu prepared by a staff trained by AIC Lombardia, the coeliac association.
Pustertal: a menu that reaches as far as India
At the Golf Club Pustertal, near Brunico, the Bar Ristorante GOLF offers an avowedly mixed cuisine: local, Mediterranean and Indian. It is open every day until 9 pm, to non-players as well, with a sunny terrace. Further south, in Trentino, the restaurant of the Golf Club Rendena in Bocenago serves Trentino cooking and is also open to outside guests.
Carimate: the clubhouse with chef Marzio
At the Golf Club Carimate, in Brianza, the restaurant is run by Green Food and chef Marzio, with cooking that ranges from Lombard tradition to the Mediterranean. Not far away, at Golf Brianza in Usmate Velate, the restaurant La Cascina has a terrace over the course and is open every day except Tuesday.
Central Italy and Liguria: the Appian Way and the Riviera
Fioranello: Diciotto, between the 18th hole and the Appian Way
Since July 2020 the bar-restaurant of the Golf Club Fioranello has been called Diciotto: a room of about 60 seats that looks on one side onto the green of the 18th hole, on the other onto the Appian Way park, at the foot of the Castelli Romani.
Sanremo: Tee Shot and Matteo Riccitelli
At the Circolo Golf degli Ulivi in Sanremo the restaurant Tee Shot is run by the Ad Hoc brand with chef Matteo Riccitelli: open every day for lunch, on Friday and Saturday for dinner as well, closed on Tuesday. On the same Riviera, the Golf Club Albisola runs its own restaurant, open to everyone, with an unusual combination, Ligurian and Sardinian cooking, and a carefully chosen wine list.
Antognolla: a restaurant open to the public beneath the castle
In Umbria, at the Antognolla Golf Club, the 500-hectare estate dominated by the castle is still being developed as a resort, but the course and restaurant are already open to the public: the restaurant is called La Boiola.
What to know before booking
- Who can sit down to eat. Most of these restaurants are declared open to non-players too. La Mandria is the exception, reserved for members except for events.
- The closing day. In many clubs the restaurant closes on the same day as the course: Tuesday is the most frequent (Colline del Gavi, Golf Brianza, Sanremo).
- The evening. Several club restaurants work mainly at lunchtime: Sanremo opens for dinner only on Friday and Saturday. For dinner, always check.
- The table after the round. If you book your tee time, ask for the table at the same time: on competition days the secretary's office can tell you whether the restaurant is reserved for participants.
Frequently asked questions
Can you eat at a golf club restaurant without being a member?+
Often yes: Colline del Gavi, La Margherita, I Girasoli, Lignano, Golf Pordenone, Pustertal, Rendena and Albisola declare the restaurant open to non-players too. Some clubs reserve it for members, like La Mandria except for special events: ask the secretary's office.
What is meant by the nineteenth hole?+
It is what golfers call the club bar or restaurant, where one stops after the eighteen holes of the course.
Which golf club restaurants have a chef with a name?+
Andrea Bisio at Colline del Gavi, Daniele Eusebio at La Margherita, Bruno Piovanelli at Il Colombaro, Matteo Riccitelli at Sanremo, chef Marzio at Carimate. The cooking at La Mandria is run by the starred La Credenza.
Is there a golf club with a gluten-free menu?+
The restaurant of the Golf Club Il Colombaro in Salò offers a gluten-free menu prepared by a staff trained by AIC Lombardia, the coeliac association.
What is the most common closing day for club restaurants?+
Among these clubs it is Tuesday, often the same closing day as the course. Hours and days change with the seasons: check on the club's website.
Where can you eat typical Piedmontese cooking in a golf club?+
At Cherasco, with tajarin, cheeses from the Val Maira, snails and beef from the Granda; at Colline del Gavi, with game, mushrooms and truffles in season; at I Girasoli, with local meats and vegetables from the organic garden.
