Golf on Lake Como: historic clubs and grand hotels

Lake Como is the deepest lake in Italy, with a maximum depth of 412 metres across just 145 square kilometres, and its inverted-Y shape with three branches makes it a place where the views change at every bend. For golfers it is also the lake with the longest history: the clubs of the Lario and the Brianza date from between 1907 and the 1970s and, between Monticello and Villa d'Este, have hosted nineteen editions of the Italian Open. The landscape is less open than that of Lake Garda: here you play among chestnut woods, historic villas and changes of elevation.

Around the lake there are seven courses between Menaggio, the Como hinterland and the Brianza, and a hotel on the shores of the Lario that is among the most famous in the world. The drive times given are estimates without traffic.

The golf courses of Lake Como, from 1907 to today

There is no course on the lakeshore: the clubs lie above the western branch, in the Como hinterland or in the Brianza.

Menaggio e Cadenabbia: the club of 1907

It is the second oldest club in Italy, founded by the banker Henry John Mylius with three English friends. The first nine holes were built in the Croce area, above Menaggio, under the supervision of John Henry Taylor, five-time winner of the Open Championship. Today it has 18 holes, par 70, over 5,482 metres, with narrow fairways and mature trees: the club's motto, "Far and Sure", says that direction matters more than distance here. There are five par 3s and a library of more than 1,200 golf books, the oldest dating from 1682. An exact handicap of 54 is required and bookings are made through Chronogolf; the published price list shows €100 on weekdays and €120 at weekends and on public holidays, but gives no year of validity: confirm at reception.

Villa d'Este, twelve Italian Opens

No other Italian club has hosted the Italian Open more often: twelve editions at the Montorfano course, designed by Peter Gannon in 1926. It stands at about 400 metres above sea level in a wood of chestnuts, birches and pines; it measures 5,760 metres, par 69, a modest length that did not stop the professionals from playing it. In 2026 it turns one hundred, and the Villa d'Este hotel, which owned it until the end of the 1970s, bought it back in 2024. You can play from March to December, closed on Tuesdays. The club does not publish a green fee list: bookings are made through the club office.

Carimate, Monticello and Lecco

At Carimate the clubhouse, designed by Vico Magistretti, gave its name to one of the best-known chairs in Italian design. The course (Piero Mancinelli, 1962) is a park with every hole named after a tree, including the 11th, the Atlas Cedar, at 535 metres. It closes only on Mondays that are not public holidays. Monticello has 36 holes and a course record of 63 strokes, shared by Greg Norman and Costantino Rocca; its first Open was in 1975, won by Billy Casper. Lecco, in Annone Brianza, has its clubhouse in a Lombard farmhouse from the 1600s and the Resegone behind the 17th green.

Lanzo and La Pinetina

Lanzo is the mountain course: nine holes designed by Donald Harradine at 1,000 metres above sea level, where you can even play with your own dog. La Pinetina, among the pines of the regional park of Appiano Gentile and Tradate, is an 18-hole, par 71 course by John Harris with a restaurant at the 9th and 18th holes.

Where to stay on Lake Como: Villa d'Este

The hotel that more than any other ties its name to golf on the Lario is the Villa d'Este in Cernobbio. The villa was built in 1568 as the summer residence of Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio and has been a hotel since 1873; it has 151 rooms in a park of ten hectares. On the lake floats its swimming pool, opened in 1966 and, according to the hotel, the first on the Lario.

For golfers the formula is the 2026 golf package, valid from 21 March to 21 November with a minimum of two nights: it includes breakfast, an 18-hole green fee, a golf cart and club hire. For those with less time there are nine holes in the morning with lunch, or nine at sunset with a glass of Franciacorta. The Montorfano course is about 26 minutes by car from the hotel, 14 kilometres according to the hotel.

The other courses from the Villa d'Este: Monticello about 20 minutes, Carimate 30, La Pinetina 28, Lecco 40, Menaggio 48 and Lanzo 37.

A golf weekend on the Lario: how to combine the courses

With three days you can build a programme starting from Cernobbio. On the first day you play Montorfano (about 26 minutes from the hotel), avoiding the Tuesday closure. On the second you go to Monticello (about 20 minutes) for the 36 holes of the Opens, or to Carimate (30 minutes) if you prefer a more intimate park. On the third day, for those who want history, Menaggio: a 48-minute drive repaid by a golf library from 1682 and by the club's restaurant, which in 2026 is run by chef Andrea Bombana with a cuisine built on Lario produce. Between Monticello and La Pinetina it is barely 8 minutes, so anyone wanting two courses in a day will find here the most convenient pair.

When to play on Lake Como

The Villa d'Este season runs from March to December; Menaggio opened its 2026 season on 13 March; Carimate is open all year. In May the hotel hosts the Concorso d'Eleganza, the vintage-car show held since 1929: anyone travelling that month should book rooms and tee times well in advance. Lanzo, at 1,000 metres, is the choice for those looking for a mountain course close to the lake.

How to get there

From the Villa d'Este hotel the airports are Milan Malpensa (48 minutes, 60 kilometres), Linate (60 minutes, 70 kilometres) and Bergamo Orio al Serio (100 minutes), according to the hotel. From the Villa d'Este, Menaggio is about 48 minutes by car (estimate without traffic).

Curiosities of Lario golf

• The disapproving priest. According to local chronicles, Don Enrico Moltrasio noted with disapproval that the English had founded the so-called "Golf Club".
• A chair born in a restaurant. Vico Magistretti had the idea for the "Carimate", later produced by Cassina, in the restaurant of the clubhouse he was designing.
• A 63 shared by two. Greg Norman and Costantino Rocca share the course record at Monticello.
• A fake fortress. In the park of the Villa d'Este a fake fortress was erected in honour of General Domenico Pino.