Golf in Italy?

Venezia Golf Club

Most potential expats to Italy are generally not concerned with playing golf.  Most are focused on immersing themselves in Italian culture, either in cities such as Rome and Florence, or within a quiet town in southern Italy near the sea.

With that in mind, if golf has been a big part of your life and you want to continue to enjoy it if you move to Italy, there is still opportunity.

Keep in mind, Italy has nowhere near the number of golf courses that you will find in U.S. states.

Overall, Italy has somewhere around 320 golf courses altogether.  Italy has a total land mass of about 116,000 square miles.

Compare that to my old home state of Pennsylvania, which has a land mass of 46,000 square miles.  In Pennsylvania, there are about 720 golf courses.

Where I live here in Maryland I can find multiple golf courses within a five mile radius.

In Italy, if you want to find more than a few good golf courses, you will need to live in certain regions.

Lombardy, which is home to Milan and Lake Como, leads the way with 40 golf courses.  This is of no surprise given the concentration of wealth in this region.

Piedmont, home of the city of Turin, follows with 37 golf courses.

Veneto, home of Venice, offers 27 golf courses.  Emilia-Romagna, home of Bologna, offers 24 golf courses.

Tuscany, home of Florence, has 30 golf courses.

And then there is a big drop off to 18 courses in Lazio, but most of these are located near Rome.

As you head south, the number golf courses drops off considerably, and this is a direct reflection of the differences in economic performance.

For instance, in Sicily, you will find only a handful of courses on the island and they are quite far apart.

Therefore, it is pretty clear that if golf is important to you, you will want to either live near Rome, or in Northern Italy.

The sweet spot is probably somewhere between Turin and Milan as this is where the greatest concentration of golf courses may be found in both quantity and quality.

We’ll be writing more about golf in Italy down the road!