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The Italian government is hoping to make a small dent in that mentality,
trying to lure golfers, as have other countries recently bent on attracting
the type of American and European tourists who spend money, rather than
free-loading backpackers.
The country does have excellent - if not world-renowned - golf, with
courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Robert Trent Jones, Pete
Dye and Robert von Hagge, to name a few. Club Roma "Acquasanta" is the
oldest, built in 1903, and some of the layouts have dramatic, historical
backdrops, like Roman aqueducts and ancient villas.
Northern Italians speak of their fellow countrymen to the south in
sympathetic, but slightly condescending terms: they are poor and we don't
mind helping them out, but come on, enough is enough.
That extends to golf, especially in the northern regions of Tuscany,
Piedmont, Lombardia, Emilia Romagna and Veneto, where well-conditioned
18-hole courses are within short drives of one another.
Italian tourism officials are now highlighting the region of Friuli
Venezia Giulia, at the far end of northeast Italy, hoping to get the region
a piece of the action. It is, indeed, a very scenic region, with
snow-covered mountains to the north, the Tagliamento River to the south and
the coast of the Adriatic Sea to the east.
Like most of northern Italy, the region is exceptionally clean, with
great roads and well-marked signs. The countryside is rolling, with vast
corn fields and vineyards. The region is famous for its wines (and
curiously, ham) and even your normal, everyday Italian is likely to have a
small vineyard in his back yard.
You drive through small towns that reek with history - the little town of
Cividale was founded by Julius Caesar, for Christ's sake - and names like
Charlemagne and Napolean jump out at you. The Visigoths and Huns have come
through here on various rape-and-plunder vacations and a number of Roman
monuments still exist in Trieste, the sprawling, beautiful seaport town.
And yes, that huge building that looks like a castle you see as you're
careening down one of the highways is what it appears. They seem to pop out
of regular neighborhoods from time to time and some still have royalty
living in them. For people living in a country barely more than 200 years
old, eating in a castle - they're sometimes opened to special events like
formal dinners - can be an extraordinary event.
And then there is the crown jewel: Venice. Although tourism officials are
purposefully excluding Venice from their marketing campaign - like Venice
needs marketing - it's only an hour's train ride from Udine, located roughly
in the center of the region.
A visit to Venice is an other-worldly affair. "A realist in Venice would
become a romantic, by mere faithfulness to what he saw before him," said the
Welsh poet Arthur Symons, and it's true.
From the Bridge of Sighs to the Piazza San Marco, you walk through narrow
streets with the art and architecture of centuries towering over you and
encasing you like a bee entombed in honey. You do, indeed, sigh.
Still, it must be said Friuli Venezia Giulia isn't exactly a golf hotbed.
The courses are hours apart and the drives, even through a countryside this
beautiful can be wearing, excluding Venice, which could never become
wearing.
So, come for Venice and the rest of the beautiful countryside and maybe
get in a little golf while you're here. There are some good courses. |
Poggio
dei Medici Golf & Resort Scarperia Florence
Is
Molas Golf Hotel Pula