3 nights with breakfast at Castello di Montaldo Torino and one green fees per person (Royal Park I Roveri Golf 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.