The Rapallo Golf and Tennis Club, open all year round, today is a modern sports centre located in the heart of the city, just a few hundred meters from the motorway exit and it is easily accessible from the train station.
“Since ancient times, the buildings were closing each other like sisters in a colorful embrace that overlooks the sea. This is what remains etched in the imagination of the tourist who arrives in this corner of the Mediterranean.”
Therefore, for those who don’t know it, it is not a little surprising to know that close to the medieval monastery of Valle Christi, historical monument dating back to 1200 and placed on the background of hole 7 known throughout the world for its rare beauty, a long green path winds through maritime pines and ancient trees.
The golf course in Rapallo, designed in 1929 and opened in 1931, is a symbol of excellence known throughout the world. Over ninety years of history and a unique location, so close to Portofino and Santa Margherita Ligure, makes the Ruentino course a destination known and appreciated by many golfers.
The tennis part now has six courts, four of which are in red soil and, during winter, it is also possible to play on an indoor court.
You can play until late in the evening and you can benefit from very well kept and comfortable locker rooms. They are divided by sector and the online booking allows easy access to Members and Guests of the Club.
The history of the Club and of all the personalities who have attended and lived there can still be felt today in the Club House. In fact, the bar, the lounges, the card room and the restaurant have English furnishing, also emphasized by the last recent intervention for a very soft and tasteful restyling. The antique red color of the walls is combined with the wood of the parquet, and the light of the bedside lamps, or of the brass wall lamps, is mixed with the sun’s rays that let in the large windows overlooking the last green.
The quality of the Bar-Restaurant is unquestionably of excellent level and meets the various needs of the Customer. The Club Sandwich is purely British; it is served you on a table on the veranda, if you only have few minutes of time. As well as the famous "lasagnette al pesto" are equally good, typical of traditional Ligurian cuisine, which recently won the prize reserved for the best dishes among all the Italian golf clubs.
Numerous events are organized every year to bring the Club House to life, to give space to art, culture, music and to entertain the Members and guests who often, thanks to these moments, discover and get to know the Club.
Basically, this is an activity to which they have always been dedicated many “positive” energy. The sincere Ligurian sobriety never disappoints.
At the Club, we meet, greet each other, find ourselves looking at the results on the scoreboard, we smoke a cigar or a cigarette, now that it is no longer allowed in the rooms. But what is most striking is the ease of access, the service availability, the pleasure of feeling like home.
The Rapallo Golf and Tennis Club is the first in Italy certified for the reception of disabled players. The promotion work is constant and it is aimed at encouraging the development of the golf and tennis discipline without ever forgetting to follow with particular attention the over 600 members and 30,000 guests per year.
All this aspects also make the Club a perfect location for small conferences and events.
“The person who leave the Rapallo Golf and Tennis Club, with the idea of coming back soon, will be able to look back and see the old clock tower of the Club House towering over the green, among the branches of centuries-old trees. It has always stood there silent, as if to remember that, as time passes, there is someone who remains to mark every minute of the history of an octogenarian charm.”
The course, measuring 45 hectares and located in the center of the city, does not have a significant length from a technical point of view. Proof of this is given by PAR 70, with only two PAR 5, but this lack is amply repaired by the small greens which are well protected by numerous bunkers that surround them. The narrow fairways and the thick and tall plating which run along all the roughs, make it particularly insidious, already from the tee-shot, but at the same time extremely fascinating.
It is a very technical course which manages to defend itself from very low scores (to date, the course record is still today 63) and it is not particularly tiring; even for this reason both the very strong player and the beginners can enjoy this course.
The first nine holes, the historical ones of 1929, designed by Engineer Maffei, are a celebration of plants of rare beauty and prestige. The peculiarity of the other nine holes, made by Architect Migliorini at the end of the 1970s, is undoubtedly the Monastery of Valle Christi, in addition with the two dog-legs that welcome the holes 10 and 11.
During the years, the course has needed important maintenance work in order to keep the agronomic level live up to expectations of its frequenters. An important restyling was carried out in the 1990s on many holes of the course by Architect Cabell B. Robinson, while more recent is the new design of holes 5 and 6 signed by Costantino Rocca on a project by Fulvio Bani.
The driving range, placed close to the hole 1, offers 12 covered tees and 10 uncovered; there is a practice putting green near the green of hole 18, two approach areas and putting green, one in the middle of hole 2 and the other near the monastery of Valle Christi.
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| TEE | HOLES |
|---|---|
| Rapallo | 18 |
| Rapallo Partenza 15- (9 buche) | 9 |
