Italy has 400+ golf courses, and the best ones sit in landscapes that make you forget your handicap. Lake Garda reflected in your backswing. Etna smoking behind the 8th green. Tuscan cypresses lining the fairway. Green fees: €50-150 (vs €200-400 at comparable European courses). This guide covers the 15 best, with fees, how to book, and which holes to photograph.
1. Verdura Resort (Sicily): 2 × 18-hole courses + 9-hole par-3 along the Mediterranean coast. Designed by Kyle Phillips. The best golf resort in Italy. Green fee €180-250. 2. Pevero Golf Club (Costa Smeralda, Sardinia): Robert Trent Jones Sr. design among granite rocks and turquoise bays. €150-250. 3. Castelfalfi (Tuscany): 27-hole resort in a medieval borgo — vineyards + olive groves. €80-140. 4. Argentario Golf Resort (Tuscany coast): David Mezzacane design between the Orbetello lagoon and Tyrrhenian Sea. €80-120.
5. Circolo Golf Bogliaco (Lake Garda): 18 holes with the lake visible from every hole — one of the most scenic courses in Europe. €70-100. 6. Golf Club Milano (Monza): Inside the Monza Royal Park — the most prestigious course in Italy. €100-150. 7. Marco Simone (Rome): 2023 Ryder Cup venue — the course that hosted Europe's dramatic victory. €80-130. 8. Donnafugata Golf Resort (Ragusa, Sicily): 2 courses among carob trees with the Baroque Ibla visible in the distance. €60-100.
9. Royal Park Golf (Turin): Inside La Mandria Regional Park — wildlife, forest, royal estate. €60-90. 10. Golf Club Crans-Montana (Courmayeur/Valle d'Aosta): Alpine golf below Mont Blanc. 9 holes at 1,500m altitude. €40-60. 11. Bogogno Golf Resort (Piedmont, near Lake Maggiore): Robert von Hagge design — 2 courses. €60-90. 12. Circolo Golf di Roma (Acquasanta): Italy's oldest golf club (1903), inside a Roman aqueduct park. €80-120. 13. Golf Nazionale (Sutri, north of Rome): Championship course, Italian national team base. €60-100. 14. Franciacorta Golf Club (Lombardy): Wine country (Franciacorta sparkling wine region). €50-80. 15. Golf Club Albarella (Veneto, Po Delta): Seaside course on a private island — flamingos on the course. €50-80.