A Rome Adventure – I Play Marco Simone And Stay At The Most Luxurious Hotel In The City

I have been lucky enough to travel to Italy a couple of different times for golf trips, to the excellent Verdura Resort in Sicily, as well as the secluded and luxurious Argentario Golf and Wellness Resort in Tuscany. Both of which were very enjoyable and did a significant job in changing how I viewed the country of Italy as a viable golf trip destination. You can imagine my excitement then when I received an invite to go to Italy once again, but my heart rate grew faster still when I learned I would be playing Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, host course for the 2023 Ryder Cup, roughly two months before the event took place. I couldn’t get to the plane fast enough…

GOLF

Let’s not beat around the bush and get right to the golf. The club was named host of the Italian Open in 1994, 2021 and 2022, but it was in 2015 that it really came to prominence after it won the right to host the 2023 Ryder Cup. The main course, designed by Jim Fazio, is a par-72 which has several tees for differing levels of player. I played off the whites which measured 6,234 meters but I did sneak back to play a few of the Ryder Cup tees which measure considerably longer! The course benefits greatly from the natural beauty of its surroundings  – namely, the rolling Italian countryside. As such the elevation changes, undulations and roll offs are truly severe throughout the course, whilst accuracy was paramount thanks to the presence of water on a number of holes, and a generous number of bunkers guarding greens and errant tee shots.

All of this was apparent on my first hole of the day, the 10th. One of the hardest holes on the course, it is a reasonably long par-4 that is entirely uphill. The fairway is narrow and there is a ditch that runs up the entire right-hand side, but the real challenge is the approach. Club choice is hugely important because if you come up short, you succumb to the run off at the front of the green and roll back down the hill. Not to mention there are three greenside bunkers guarding the pin as well so I was extremely happy to take a par and move…