I Roveri Golf Course Review

A river guards the entrance to the 3rd on the Trent Jones course

(Image credit: Rob Smith)

published 16 April 2018

With two excellent and remarkably contrasting courses, I Roveri on the outskirts of Turin is a terrific golfing destination

I Roveri Golf Course Review

With Italy set to host the 2022 Ryder Cup, an increasing number of golfing tourists (opens in new tab) are turning their attention to this beautiful country. Each region is very different, and the beautiful city of Turin in the north-west is surrounded by mountains and makes for an excellent holiday base. Just on its outskirts, I Roveri, or Royal Park (opens in new tab), has two very fine courses, the Trent Jones and the Pramerica.

Trent Jones Course

Robert Trent Jones designed the first course here back in 1971, since when it has hosted the Italian Open (opens in new tab) on a number of occasions. With streams running through it and the signature Trent Jones bunkering, it is an excellent test but more importantly great fun and very attractive.

The lovely par-72 course is situated in a grand old deer park, and there are plenty of lovely holes and great variety. Here are a few highlights…

The approach to the first involves the first of several river crossings

A gentle waterfall from the adjacent lake runs beside the fifth green

The river is in play again at the attractive eleventh

Looking back from beyond the tough par-3 twelfth

The short fifteenth is played through a lovely copse

Yet more water at the demanding par-4 seventeenth

The final green at the end of an extremely attractive round

Pramerica

Considering that it is immediately adjacent, the unusual-sounding Pramerica Course, so-named for sponsorship reasons, is remarkably different. Opened in 2006, it is modern-looking with more of an American feel about it. This is understandable as it was designed by Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry, the team who designed Erin Hills which hosted the 2017 US Open (opens in new tab). As you might expect, the par is 72 with two threes and two fives on each nine.

Looking back from the green at the par-4 second with the beautiful mountains beyond

The back nine opens with this excellent par 4 at ten

Water runs down the right side of the final par 5 at fifteen

The mountains behind the seventeenth green

Royal Park, I Roveri, is a friendly, welcoming club with two first-class courses and rates that compare favourably with the big guns in Spain and Portugal. I thoroughly recommend a visit !

Rob Smith has been playing golf for more than 40 years and been a contributing editor for Golf Monthly for over ten years, specialising in course reviews and travel. He has now played more than 1,170 different courses in almost 50 countries. Despite lockdowns and travel restrictions in 2021, he still managed to play 80 different courses during the year, 43 of them for the first time. This included 21 in 13 days on a trip to East Lothian in October. One of Rob's primary roles is helping to prepare the Top 100 and Next 100 Courses of the UK&I, of which he has played all but nine. During the 2021-22 review period, Rob has played 34 of the Golf Monthly Top 200. He is a member of Tandridge Golf Club in Surrey where his handicap hovers around 16. You can contact him at r.smith896@btinternet.com.