The 50th Italian Open was decided on the 18th hole at Modena, at Cervia three nine-hole loops offer three different landscapes, and at Sala Baganza the restaurant occupies Maria Luigia's hunting lodge. And almost everywhere you play for less than in the North.
Emilia-Romagna rarely features in golf-trip brochures, and unfairly so. Along the Via Emilia and on the coast you will find a 27-hole layout in the pines at Cervia, a Bernhard Langer design at Modena that has hosted an Italian Open, Apennine hills at Bologna and Piacenza, and a course above the spa town of Salsomaggiore. Club price lists run from 25 to 100 euros a round, with many courses under 70.
Many of these courses combine easily with a city of art, the seaside or a spa cure. Prices and rules change often: it is best to reconfirm them with the club before booking.
How Emilia-Romagna golf is laid out: three zones
The region is best understood by following its geography.
- The Romagna Riviera. Cervia, Rimini-Verucchio and San Giovanni in Marignano: pine, plain and first-hill courses, a few kilometres from the beach.
- The Via Emilia, from Piacenza to Bologna. Parma, Reggio Emilia and Modena are cities twenty or thirty minutes apart, each with its own course, often on land with a long history.
- Apennines and hills. From Monzuno and Monteveglio near Bologna to Castell'Arquato and Gazzola in the Piacenza area, where you play with real changes in elevation.
On the less touristy side, the Ferrara area and the Po Delta offer nine and eighteen holes on flat ground, among embankments and parks.
The Romagna Riviera: Cervia, Rimini and the Conca
The Adriatic Golf Club Cervia is the course that best explains the relationship between golf and the Riviera. It was commissioned in 1984 by the Municipality of Cervia together with local hoteliers, to give Milano Marittima's beach season one more reason to visit. It has 27 holes in three nines: the Red (1986, Marco Croze) runs through the pine wood, the Blue (1987) circles the lakes, and the Yellow (2004, Baldovino Dassù and Alvise Rossi Fioravanti) imitates the Scottish links. Red-Blue makes a par 72. Since 2008 the fairways have been bermuda, overseeded in winter with ryegrass: that is why the club is open all year.
The 2026 price list asks 70 euros on weekdays and 80 at weekends and on public holidays in low season, 100 and 120 from 1 April to 31 October; the full 27-hole round costs from 80 to 140 euros. A golf cart is 50 euros for 18 holes.
Further south, in the Valmarecchia, the Rimini Verucchio Golf Club is an 18-hole par 72 by Brian M. Silva, open since 1995, with a 7-hole executive course. From the 17th and 18th holes you can see the three towers of San Marino, and from the course you can pick out Verucchio, Torriana and San Leo. The 2026 price list gives 57 euros on weekdays and 63 at weekends and on public holidays for 18 holes, with a discounted rate of 52 and 55 euros for guests of partner hotels and for members of Emilia-Romagna clubs.
Rivieragolf, in San Giovanni in Marignano, sits inside the Conca wildlife area and has 27 holes: an 18-hole par 70 by Luigi Rota Caremoli and Graham Cook and a nine-hole par 27 executive course, where the San Marino International Pitch & Putt Open is played. The online price list, with no year, indicates 80 euros in high season and 70 in low season; the club is closed on Mondays and admits dogs under rules published on its website.
Where to stay on the Riviera
For golfers, the address is the Grand Hotel Rimini, a five-star luxury hotel opened in 1908 and open all year. Its golf package, according to the hotel, includes at least two nights with breakfast and two green fees per person at Rimini Verucchio; reception books tee times and looks after your bag. It is the hotel where, the Grand Hotel says, Federico Fellini stayed in suite 315 when he came back to Rimini.
Modena, Parma and Reggio Emilia: the courses of the Via Emilia
The Modena Golf & Country Club is the course with the richest competitive history in the region. Founded in 1987 on the initiative of local businessmen, it has 27 holes; the championship course, opened in 1990, is signed by Bernhard Langer with Jim Engh: par 72, 6,423 metres, five lakes. On the 18th hole, which asks you to carry the ball over the lake twice, the 50th Italian Open was decided, won by Greg Turner. The website does not publish a price list for guests: you have to phone the secretary's office (059 553482). The club is closed on Tuesdays.
At Sala Baganza, in the Parma area, the Golf del Ducato (La Rocca) is played on the grounds of the residence of Marie Louise of Austria, Napoleon's second wife: the restaurant is in her hunting lodge. The 18 holes, par 72 (6,103 metres, Marco Croze, 1985), are gently rolling, with bermuda grass. The 2026 price list gives 90 euros on weekdays and 110 at weekends and on public holidays; a handicap certificate (maximum 54) is required and the club is closed on Mondays.
Reggio Emilia has two very different addresses. Reggio Golf, on the Via Emilia towards Modena, is a nine-hole par 29 with seven par 3s: in the 2026 price list, 20 euros on weekdays for FIG members, 30 at weekends and on public holidays. At Castellarano, the San Valentino Golf Club has 23 rated holes (Championship par 72, Old Course par 69 in winter) around a lake that the club says is the largest in the province, but it does not publish a price list for outside players.
Salsomaggiore and the Piacenza hills
Salsomaggiore Golf & Thermae, at 360 metres, has 18 holes, par 72, by Carlo Quintelli (1992), renovated in 2018: three lakes come into play on five holes. To play you need a handicap certificate (maximum 54), soft spikes and a reservation (0524 583102); it is closed on non-holiday Wednesdays. The green fee is not published. The club states there is a swimming pool with a sun terrace next to the clubhouse, and the spa town is a few kilometres away.
Further west, in the Piacenza area, the Golf Club Castell'Arquato (par 73, 6,052 metres, five lakes, design attributed to Cotton & Pennink) asks, in a price list with no year, 47 euros on weekdays and 57 at weekends and on public holidays; it is best to book by phone. The Croara Country Club at Gazzola, in the Val Trebbia, hosted in 1987 the first Italian Ladies' Open (Laura Davies, the club recounts, scored an 8 on the 17th hole). The 2026 price list is flat: 60 euros in low season, 65 euros in high season, with no distinction between weekdays and weekends. The heart of the club is an eighteenth-century villa with a swimming pool and four tennis courts.
Bologna and the Bolognese Apennines
At Crespellano the Golf Club Bologna presents itself as the first in Emilia-Romagna: 18 holes, par 72, on hills where, the club says, the slopes matter more than the distances (the 15th hole, uphill, is stroke index 1). Every year it takes on Modena Golf in a match called La Secchia Rapita (The Stolen Bucket), after Tassoni's mock-heroic poem. The website does not publish the green fee for guests; the course is open from Tuesday to Sunday.
Molino del Pero, at Monzuno, has 18 holes, par 70, at 300 metres, created from the restoration of one of the 28 mills on the Savena: the 2026 price list asks 55 euros on weekdays and 65 at weekends and on public holidays. The Golf Club Le Fonti at Castel San Pietro Terme, opened in 1999 above the Sillaro valley, does not publish its price list. For a quick round, Monteveglio is a nine-hole par 32 lit for evening play; from February 2027, the club warns, only people who are up to date with their membership fee will be able to enter.
Ferrara, the Delta and the nine-hole courses
CUS Ferrara Golf occupies 40 hectares of urban park next to the historic walls: 18 holes, par 68, 5,436 metres, with three lakes. The 2026 price list is 60 euros every day, 40 euros with the discounted rate for members of Emilia-Romagna clubs. The Argenta Golf Club (1991, par 72, 6,300 metres) follows the river embankments on the edge of the Po Delta Park, and is closed on Mondays; its restaurant, open to the public, also welcomes those who do not play. Among the nine-hole courses, I Fiordalisi in Forlì lies in a reserve recognised as a Site of Community Importance: the price list with no year asks 30 euros for 18 holes on weekdays. Casalunga, near Bologna, was flooded three times in 2023-2024 and plays with a temporary 8th hole; the 2026 price list is 45 euros for 18 holes on weekdays.
When to go and how to get around
| Area | When | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Cervia | all year | bermuda with winter overseeding; high season from 1 April to 31 October |
| Rimini, Marignano | all year | Rivieragolf closed on Mondays |
| Modena, Parma, Reggio | all year | different weekly closing days (Tuesday, Wednesday or Monday) |
| Apennines | spring and autumn | Molino del Pero says it plays all year |
For flights, the reference point is Bologna, which serves Bologna, Modena and Reggio; for the Riviera there is Rimini airport, cited by Rimini Verucchio as a few kilometres from the course. From the Via Emilia to the hill courses you need a car or a transfer. On Mondays and Tuesdays many clubs are closed: check the day before you organise a tour.
Curiosities
- A stream on six holes. At San Bartolomeo, in the Reggio area, the Quaresimo comes into play on six holes of the Golf Terre di Canossa (formerly Matilde di Canossa), 6,210 metres, par 72.
- An Olympian at the opening. In 1996 CUS Ferrara opened its first nine holes with the skier Manuela Di Centa as guest of honour.
- From vine to green. Santo Stefano at Campagnola Emilia, nine holes, par 64, occupies the vineyard of a commandery of the Knights of Saint Stephen founded in 1180.
- A 99-metre hole. The 8th at Monteveglio, the shortest par 3 on a course that the club says leaves no margin for error.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to play golf in Emilia-Romagna?+
On club price lists a round of 18 holes runs from about 25-30 euros (the nine-hole courses at Campagnola Emilia and I Fiordalisi) to 100-120 euros at Cervia in high season 2026. Most courses fall between 45 and 90 euros.
Which course suits those staying on the Riviera?+
Rimini Verucchio Golf Club, inland from Rimini, a few kilometres from the sea and the airport: the Grand Hotel Rimini offers a package with two green fees. At Cervia, the Adriatic has a reduced rate for guests of partner hotels.
Where has the Italian Open been played in Emilia-Romagna?+
The 50th Italian Open, won by Greg Turner, was decided on the 18th hole at Modena Golf & Country Club. The first Italian Ladies' Open, in 1987, was played at Croara Country Club.
Can you play golf in Emilia-Romagna in winter?+
Yes, at several clubs: Cervia is open all year with winter overseeding, Argenta and Molino del Pero say they play all year, and San Valentino has an 18-hole par 69 winter course.
Are there courses where you can bring a dog?+
Yes: Rimini Verucchio describes itself as dog friendly, Rivieragolf admits dogs under published rules and Terre di Canossa allows them on a lead.
Is a handicap certificate required?+
Often yes: Sala Baganza and Salsomaggiore ask for a certificate (maximum 54), and Reggio Golf and Terre di Canossa require it. Those who are not members can begin with a practice range or with programmes such as Golf Pop, mentioned by Modena and by Santo Stefano.
