204 - Il Picciolo Etna

Location: Mount Etna, Italy

Rating: 7.9

My first time playing golf in Italy and a very enjoyable course to start off at. As the name suggests the course is based in the foothills of Mount Etna and provides a stunning backdrop to the course. The club is part of a resort which seems to have a lot of investment put in it to improve the overall quality and they have bought new land for the golf course to potentially to expand it further.

At 5,250 meters and a par 72 you would think it is a really short and easy course but don’t be fooled. It is a challenging, tight, twisting course which requires precision and thought behind each shot. You could easily go a round here without taking out your driver. There are many holes that are independent of any others and have little error for margin.

Having said all of that, the course starts with a relatively open par 4 dog-legging to the left with the opportunity to get the driver out and if struck well enough you can get in close proximity to the green, from there there is a short par 3 but then it starts to get a lot more narrow. The 3rd is a very cool tee shot with a steep drop to the fairway way below.

The 11th, stroke index 1 was by far the hardest hole on the course. It is near impossible to take a driver out because of water and a narrow neck of a fairway for the last 100 meters towards the green. An iron off the tee leaves a lengthy second shot which if you are marginally off line will either end up in bush on the left or water on the right. Chances are you’ll lose a ball on that hole!

Otherwise the course has a really nice mix of lots of different types of holes from changes in elevation to twisting and turning fairways and all shots requiring your utmost attention. I found it in pretty good condition, the fairways were lovely and lush for an island that is ravaged by droughts and the greens were awesome especially as many of them are shadowed by tall trees and might not dry out in wet conditions. The only part that required attention was the tee boxes but having spoken to Gabriele their Sporting Director I know it’s a point they’re looking to work on.

Otherwise they have a lovely clubhouse, very pretty seating area outside under the trees to enjoy a coffee before the round and also a driving range beside the 1st hole to get the proper warm up in.