It might not surprise others while playing golf in the land of la dolce vita, but American writer Roland Merullo was taken aback when he was invited for a bite with some locals at Italy’s top-ranked course, Olgiata Golf Club after nine holes. He encountered the furthest thing from hot dogs and beers at the turn—instead, it was a cloth-covered meal of salad, pasta, wine, espresso and a slice of torta before continuing to the back nine.
The quality of Italy’s golf courses doesn’t compare to the links of the British Isles or to America’s top clubs, but it’s the mixing of Italian culture and history with the sport that makes the country’s golf so appealing. Etruscan tunnels and caves sit under the land surrounding Olgiata (formerly ranked on Golf Digest’s World’s 100 Greatest Courses), Le Pavoneiere—just outside Florence—was built on a former estate owned by the Medici family, and Italy’s oldest course, Acquasanta, offers views of nearby Roman aqueducts.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
