7 nights with breakfast at Principi di Piemonte UNA Esperienze including 3 Green Fees per person (Golf I Ciliegi, Le Fronde Golf Club & Royal Park I Roveri Country Club)

La Mandria Regional Park, or better, the immense hunting reserve that once belonged to the royal Savoy family a few kilometers from Turin, is the backdrop for the Royal Park Golf I Roveri course, a club that came into being in the early 1970s and which has become one of Italy’s most beautiful courses over time. Credit is also due to its visionary promoters who entrusted Robert Trent Jones Sr. with the upgrading project of the existing 9 holes and with creating a new course. This resulted in a championship 18-hole course inaugurated in 1974, flanked by 12 supporting holes suitable for practice. It is a club with a personality that distinguishes itself from the nearby Circolo Golf Torino with a clear American stamp which translates into sweeping spaces and many water hazards. The Italian Open was played here for four consecutive editions from 2009 to 2012. In keeping with its remarkable sense of modernity, in the 2000s the club called upon architects Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry to transform and expand those 12 holes, thus creating the Pramerica, the second 18-hole course on the property, elected “Best New Course” in Italy in 2014 by Il Mondo del Golf magazine. This innovative course allows players to choose their game strategy right from the tee, defensive or aggressive, according to their ability, with water hazards that come into play more or less decidedly on the majority of the holes. Nature is the undeniable protagonist on this complex, as it is not rare to see a herd of fawns crossing the road, and villas and farmhouses are hidden from sight during play. Only the age-old farmstead, the Cerbiatta, stands prominently, renovated in 1984 and transformed into the current clubhouse with its restraine. Technical Details Course: 2×18 holes, Par 72/72, 6218/6165 meters Architects: Robert Trent Jones/Michael Hurdzan Topography: relatively flat, water hazards and bunkers Distinctive features: The 18 front holes, Allianz Course, conceived by the well-known architect Robert Trent Jones in 1971, feature bunkers, water hazards and greens that enhance a strategic play. For many years now the course has hosted the Italian Open, thus contributing to increase the fame of the Golf Club. The additional 18 holes, Allianz Bank, designed by Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry, were developed preserving the original environmental context. The very varied courses are plunged into an enchanting natural landscape, sometimes crossed by torrents. The principal fairways are very big, the bunkers well protected and water hazards decorate the playground, without forgetting the courses quality, which is perfectly kept. Ball drops, pre-greens and greens are always at their best and the two courses are among the best golfs in Italy. Pro’s comments Two magnificent (and completely different) courses which could not go missing on your golfer’s CV: the Trent Jones is a true work of art, a parkland course with many water hazards (ponds and rivers touch on 12 holes) with Hole 17, which will stay on your minds for a long time. This is a long par 4 with a large lake in the middle of the fairway which can intimidate, but once you get past it, as reward, there is a large green with little sloping waiting for you: a small masterpiece of golf architecture. The Pramerica has a more modern feel to it, is rather long with large greens that are not too hospitable, and which propose devious slopes that are hard to read. Hole 2 is splendid and can be attacked by stronger players who can try to hit the green by passing directly above the lake on the left. Using a more wary strategy, players can score a par rather easily.

Only 15 minutes from lovely Turin and nestled in the green Piedmont hills, the Golf Club I Ciliegi is a Par 72 with 9 interesting holes on 25 hectares of gently rolling terrain. The greens are protected by strategically positioned bunkers and no less than 5 lakes touch 4 holes. The 6th is simply spectacular: a Par 4 with a left dogleg and a view of Monviso and the Ligurian Alps in the distance. The clubhouse is the perfect place to relax after a match, comfortably seated beside the wooden fireplace in a cozy and informal atmosphere. Technical Details: Course: 9 holes, Par 36, 2991m Architect: Luigi Rota Caremoli Topography: Flat Distinctive features: In a peaceful rural setting, just minutes away from Turin town centre. The 20-bay driving range also has a large putting green and a chipping green, allowing you to practice all your short game shots. I Ciliegi also has PGA instruction offering an assortment of individual, junior and group lesson packages. Pro’s Comments: Located on the green hills just outside Turin, I Ciliegi Golf Club demands with its 9 holes everything required for a good score: accuracy, a little strength, great green-reading skills due to the steep sloping putting surfaces. Even the fairways follow the natural slope of the land, so that you’ll be often challenged by uneven lies. From the opening hole, an uphill long and narrow par 4, to the 9th, a par 4 with a frontal water hazard just in front of the green, an enjoyable experience for players of all standards. Not to be missed!

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.