Golf Club Le Fronde

The club is located just 30 minutes by car from Turin, at 450 meters above sea level and at the threshold of the Susa Valley on the road leading to the mountains that hosted the 2006 Olympic Games – Oulx, Bardonecchia, Sansicario and Sestrières – and 3 kilometers from Lake Avigliana, in a magnificent natural context. It is hard to believe that in the same area where John Harris configured the 18 holes built at the request of entrepreneur Giuseppe Maggiora, the Nobel Dynamite Company, the most important factory of explosives in the world from the last century, was still operating here until the 1950s. Only a few of the company’s architectural traces remain, such as the small casemates which occasionally appear semi-hidden on the margins of the course.

The course alternates very challenging holes with others that are more relaxing, but precision is always fundamental for a good score. The most spectacular hole is number 2, a par 4 of 420 meters. You must climb up to the tee box, a difference in level of perhaps 30 meters, and the panorama is there to distract you. The Sacra di San Michele, the Rocciamelone and the Castle of Avigliana overlook golfer’s drives which must somehow fit through a sharply curving corridor edged by American oaks and ashes. The out of bounds is there to the right for more than half of the curve. And if that were not enough – the fairway sloping in that direction is an accessory to the crime – there is also a pond waiting to catch the most powerful slices. The green is hidden behind a forest of very tall trees. No shot is possible to the left.

Course: 18 holes, Par 71, 5951 meters

Architect: John Harris

Topography: quite undulating with many water hazards

Distinctive features: a tip: avoid long drives and opt for a short game

A good score at the Golf Club Le Fronde is unthinkable unless you have played it at least once attentively: blind doglegs, greens and a course with steep slopes and severe differences in level, water hazards that are not always visible, all these combine to make a first approach complicated. Many of the out of bounds have been positioned on the right side of the holes, so it is best to avoid slicing. In compensation, the course is not long and is great fun. Due to its altitude and position at the threshold of the Susa Valley, it often proves to be cool even in summertime.