Trevor Peake samples the tranquil delights of a golfing holiday in Italy starting in Venice.
I’ve played many games of golf in different parts of the world but the exhilarating journey by water-taxi from Venice Golf Club to the city’s airport at the end of a four-day golfing trip to Italy was a memorable first.
Much of the glory that is Venice, one of the wonders of the world, is best seen from the water and the six-mile car-ferry trip from the Tronchetto terminal to Venice Lido before we played, followed by the 20-minute taxi ride to Marco Polo airport afterwards, afforded excellent views of this fascinating city.
Legend has it that in 1928, keen golfer and motor entrepreneur Henry Ford bemoaned the lack of a course on the Lido, to Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata, president of the Company of Grand Hotels. So the company chose 250 acres near the district of Alberoni at the Lido’s southern tip as the location to put matters right.
Scottish architect Ian Cruickshank designed a course on the windswept and treeless ground, rich in dunes and with a sandy subsoil – all the characteristics of the links back home.
The original nine holes of the Venice Golf Club were founded in 1930 and after the Second World War it increased to 18 holes, with the additional nine designed by CK Cotton.
Over the years bunkers and water hazards have been added to strengthen the 72 par course and the growth of trees means it’s no longer true links.
Crossing the bridge to reach the 6,500-yard course and clubhouse, you move inside an old fortification, built under the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
There are three par threes on the front nine, the pick of which is the ninth, where you play a blind tee shot to the green over the ramparts of the fort.
A bell is the customary way on golf courses to let the group playing behind know the green is clear, when it can’t be seen from the tee, but here there is a flashing light atop the rampart, which wouldn’t be out of place on a road-sweeper or any other municipal vehicle. But it is perfect for the job, as long as you remember to switch it off for the following group when you leave the green.
A heavy rain shower and the fact we had a plane to catch meant we had to finish after nine holes. I never like to miss out holes on a course I may never play again but the trip in the speedy water-taxi to the airport sort of made up for it.
We played three other courses in the Venice area, which boasts more than 40.
The first was Ca’ Della Nave, designed by Arnold Palmer, who must have been into his “water period” as the dreaded drink comes into play on all but two holes and there are also an abundance of large American-style bunkers.
Located in the grounds of Villa Grimani Morosini, which dates back to the 16th century, Ca’ Della Nave also has an executive nine-hole course, a clubhouse with swimming pool and there are various apartments and villas to let in the tranquillity of the 1,845-acre park.
