(ANSA) - Rome, May 11 - Golf enthusiasts wanting to indulge
their passion for the sport and have some five-star pampering
cannot complain about holiday options on offer in Italy.
The country has always been popular with golf tourists
with its rich variety of courses in spectacular settings, with
the possibility to enjoy its artistic, architectural and
culinary delights thrown into the bargain.
Veneto is a particular favourite with scores of greens
dotted around its mountains, lakes and art cities - Verona,
Venice and Padua - and the northern region has set up a special
website www.golfinveneto.com to show visitors what it offers
golf lovers.
But several resorts in different parts of the country are
going one step further, combining golf with health, fitness,
beauty and spa facilities to give those with money to spend on
spoiling themselves a complete package.
One of these is the Terme di Saturnia SPA & Golf Resort at
the Tuscan spa town of Saturnia, near Grosseto.
It has a challenging, wavy 18-hole course with lush
greens, lots of water obstacles and bunkers to dodge, and a
local medieval castle and beautiful rolling hills as a backdrop.
After a game, visitors can relax in its invigorating
thermal baths and soak up the benefits of sulphur-rich spring
waters or partake in a wide of beauty treatments and fitness
activities.
Upcoming French professional golfer Victor Dubuisson is a
fan.
''Saturnia has a world-class practice range and golf
course, beautifully designed but also very testing with sloping
greens and narrow fairways,'' the 21-year-old told Terme di
Saturnia's website (www.termedisaturnia.it/en).
''There's plenty of trouble to be found on it''. Another good option is the nearby Argentario Golf Club (http://www.argentarioresort.it/en), which is situated in the Maremma national park. It has a 6,218-metre long, 71-par course that looks out on to the crystal, blue sea at Porto Ercole and is also flanked by a lagoon. Most of the greens are small and there is usually a light breeze that keeps temperatures mild on a course that demands precision and a beefy swing from those wanting to register a good score. There is a 300-metre driving range, putting greens and practice bunkers and its fitness centre has tennis courts and five-a-side football pitches, with personal trainers available on request.
The complex, which prides itself on its environmentally friendly credentials, also has spa baths, Turkish baths, saunas, salt-water pools, massage rooms and a nutrition centre, where visitors can enjoy Italian cuisine made with local organic produce. ''Our resort offers top quality in combining environmental protection and sustainable support of the local area's development with tourism excellence,'' Gianluca di Biase, the structure's golf specialist, told ANSA. ''We are seeking to show that tourism can promote a better way of living and respect for nature, blending infrastructure with good transport services, food, energy, engineering, architecture, art and fashion''.
Moving back to Veneto, the Galzignano Terme resort has a nine-hole course for people in the mood for some pitching and putting before enjoying iodine-rich thermal waters there.
Visitors can also take trips to a number of local attractions, such as Villa Barbarigo Pizzoni Ardemani stately home with its lovely 17th-century gardens and the ruins of the 13th century Benedictine monastery devoted to St.
John the Baptist on Monte Venda. Another Veneto location, Cortina d'Ampezzo, the Dolomite venue for the 1956 Winter Olympics, also has a luxury venue along the same lines, the Cristallo Hotel Spa & Gol (www.cristallo.it/golf).
Switching from the mountain to the seaside, Sardinia's Forte Village, (www.fortevillageresort.com/en) caters for lovers of both golf and health and fitness too. The Fiuggi thermal baths resort in the Lazio region around Rome has joined in as well, with a renovated golf course for visitors to its spa facilities. ''We are carrying out a series of golf-based activities that will be the starting point for our bid to attract 500,000 visitors by the end of 2011,'' said 'Terme di Fiuggi' Marketing Director Gianpiero Canestraro. Golf in Italy is enjoying a golden period, with interest higher than ever thanks to the feats of teen wonder Matteo Manassero and the Molinari brothers, Francesco and Edoardo. Manassero is tipped to be a future world number one after winning two European Tour tournaments in his first year as a pro, while the Molinaris helped Europe win last year's Ryder Cup and clinched the World Cup for Italy in 2009.
''Our athletes are achieving great successes on the international field and there's no doubt that golf can be an engine for tourism,'' said Franco Chimenti, the president of the Italian Golf Federation.
''There's plenty of trouble to be found on it''. Another good option is the nearby Argentario Golf Club (http://www.argentarioresort.it/en), which is situated in the Maremma national park. It has a 6,218-metre long, 71-par course that looks out on to the crystal, blue sea at Porto Ercole and is also flanked by a lagoon. Most of the greens are small and there is usually a light breeze that keeps temperatures mild on a course that demands precision and a beefy swing from those wanting to register a good score. There is a 300-metre driving range, putting greens and practice bunkers and its fitness centre has tennis courts and five-a-side football pitches, with personal trainers available on request.
The complex, which prides itself on its environmentally friendly credentials, also has spa baths, Turkish baths, saunas, salt-water pools, massage rooms and a nutrition centre, where visitors can enjoy Italian cuisine made with local organic produce. ''Our resort offers top quality in combining environmental protection and sustainable support of the local area's development with tourism excellence,'' Gianluca di Biase, the structure's golf specialist, told ANSA. ''We are seeking to show that tourism can promote a better way of living and respect for nature, blending infrastructure with good transport services, food, energy, engineering, architecture, art and fashion''.
Moving back to Veneto, the Galzignano Terme resort has a nine-hole course for people in the mood for some pitching and putting before enjoying iodine-rich thermal waters there.
Visitors can also take trips to a number of local attractions, such as Villa Barbarigo Pizzoni Ardemani stately home with its lovely 17th-century gardens and the ruins of the 13th century Benedictine monastery devoted to St.
John the Baptist on Monte Venda. Another Veneto location, Cortina d'Ampezzo, the Dolomite venue for the 1956 Winter Olympics, also has a luxury venue along the same lines, the Cristallo Hotel Spa & Gol (www.cristallo.it/golf).
Switching from the mountain to the seaside, Sardinia's Forte Village, (www.fortevillageresort.com/en) caters for lovers of both golf and health and fitness too. The Fiuggi thermal baths resort in the Lazio region around Rome has joined in as well, with a renovated golf course for visitors to its spa facilities. ''We are carrying out a series of golf-based activities that will be the starting point for our bid to attract 500,000 visitors by the end of 2011,'' said 'Terme di Fiuggi' Marketing Director Gianpiero Canestraro. Golf in Italy is enjoying a golden period, with interest higher than ever thanks to the feats of teen wonder Matteo Manassero and the Molinari brothers, Francesco and Edoardo. Manassero is tipped to be a future world number one after winning two European Tour tournaments in his first year as a pro, while the Molinaris helped Europe win last year's Ryder Cup and clinched the World Cup for Italy in 2009.
''Our athletes are achieving great successes on the international field and there's no doubt that golf can be an engine for tourism,'' said Franco Chimenti, the president of the Italian Golf Federation.
