Olgiata Golf Club - Italy

Olgiata Golf Club is set in a rolling landscape of dense, overgrown woodlands 12 miles to the north of Rome off the Via Cassia, near the famous thoroughbred training center of Dormello-Olgiata. Like many of Italy's finest courses, Olgiata exudes elegance and is very much in the traditional English parkland style. The course was designed in 1961 by the English team of Ken Cotton and Frank Pennink, who were responsible for a number of stylish courses throughout Europe. Cotton, a graduate of Oxford and a scratch golfer, founded the firm in 1946. Pennink attended Oxford, was a two-time winner of the English Amateur Championship, and a successful golf journalist. The fairways at Olgiata are spread out from one another, creating a strong sense of isolation on each hole. Olgiata has twice hosted the World Cup, with the Canadian team of Al Balding and George Knudson upsetting the American pair of Lee Trevino and Julius Boros in 1968, and the Spanish duo of Jose Maria Canizares and Jose Rivero prevailing in 1984.