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Sicily: Offers You Can’t Refuse

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By:  Kingdom Magazine

Leading the way in southwest Sicily, near the port of Sciacca and the ruins of an ancient Greek temple at Agrigento, is Sir Rocco Forte’s luxurious Verdura Golf & Spa Resort. Opened in 2009, Verdura is home to a hotel with 203 bedrooms, a spa, three restaurants and two 18-hole courses—the East and West, both designed by American architect Kyle Phillips, creator of Kingsbarns Golf Links near St Andrews on the east coast of Scotland. Meandering from mountain foothills through olive, lemon and orange groves down to the Mediterranean, these layouts, a composite of which hosted the European Tour’s Sicilian Open last year, are a joy to behold, and play.

The West incorporates more coastal land, but a number of its early holes stretch consecutively along the eastern boundary and a few fairways are a little tight given the exposed nature of the site. The beachside holes are its star attraction—the first glimpse of the sea comes at the 8th and 9th before a four-hole encore from the 15th. It’s these final holes with their uninterrupted views that really steal the show. The 16th and 18th are beautiful two-shotters, the 18th routed right along the shoreline, while the 15th and 17th are short holes dominated by watery backdrops. There are other standouts as well, including the strategic par-5 4th and the strong par-4 5th, where the approach is played partly across a pronounced natural depression. The first coastal hole, the two-shot 8th, is also outstanding.

The more undulating East is equally memorable. Its finishing holes don’t have quite the same glamour, especially the front-nine par-5s that link the central area to the southern beach holes, but there are more directional changes here and plenty of design surprises as well. Highlights include the short par-4 3rd, early water holes at the 5th and 6th, each with stunning outlooks, the intimidating ridge-top par-3 12th and the semi-sunken 13th green. From there the course turns seaward. Both the 14th and 15th are long holes that plummet across glorious linksy ground while the 16th is a short hole played into a wickedly shallow target. The finishing duo are particularly strong—the penultimate hole rises gently into the foot of a Sicilian hillside and the breathtaking par-4 18th crashes from an elevated tee right along the craggy coastline.

Source:  Kingdom Magazine – Spring 2013 – Issue 25

Sicilian Open 2012 Comes to Verdura Golf & Spa Resort

From 29th March to 1st April 2012, Verdura Golf & Spa Resort will host the prestigious Sicilian Open 2012. As part of the PGA European Tour, the resort’s championship links will welcome the defending champion Raphael Jacquelin along with 143 other professional players who will compete for the honour of becoming the Sicilian Open champion, winning both coveted Ryder Cup points and points towards the “Race to Dubai ” cash prize.

The 45 holes at Verdura are made up of two 18-hole, links-style golf courses and one 9-hole par 3 golf course, all designed by leading golf architect Kyle Phillips, who has earned a reputation for developing design solutions that work in close harmony with the landscape. Sir Rocco Forte, a keen sportsman with a lifelong passion for golf, entrusted Phillips with the project of creating links-style golf courses in an area that is totally different from the Scottish coast in both temperature and landscape. Embracing the challenge with great enthusiasm, Phillips created superb links.

Verdura Golf & Spa Resort will provide a unique golf experience for both players and spectators alike. The latter, whether resident or not resident guests will enjoy free unlimited access to watch the 4 day Golf tournament. The courses, featuring undulating fairways and deep bunkers, are set amid olive and orange groves, and despite both tracks being built to the same standard and occupying similar ground, the East and West courses provide different journeys and game experiences for golfers to enjoy.

Challenging golf courses with outstanding views, pleasant temperatures and gentle sea breezes from the south -west Sicilian coast make the Verdura Golf & Spa Resort a unique location for the Sicilian Open 2012.

Source:  Verdura Golf Resort

Finding New Fairways

Verdura Golf & Spa Resort, Sciacca, Sicily

Kyle Phillips, who designed Kingsbarns Golf Links and Dundonald Links in Scotland (both regular visitors to our Platinum List), has worked his magic on the southwest Sicilian coast on 36 holes (plus a nine-hole par-three track). Many wend right to the Mediterranean Sea, which is never out of sight during play. If the clubhouse interior is an appropriately Venetian stucco, the windswept course suggests Scottish links play, with the anomalous sightline of distant olive and orange groves.

The West Course has slightly edged the East in some recent rankings; others say a composite routing of all the seaside holes is best. We say play ’em all, and then indulge yourself at the spa of the Verdura Golf & Spa Resort, which includes four Thalasso pools in graduated temperatures, varied densities of salt and minerals, and a plethora of jets and waterfalls.

The 570-acre resort opened in 2009, part of The Rocco Forte Collection but the first built in Italy by the luxury hotel company, all on a splendidly private 1.1 miles of coastline.
by Thomas Bedell
Celebrated Living
http://www.celebratedliving.com

The Verdura Golf and Spa Resort in Sicily

Spending time in the warm Mediterranean waters of Sicily might normally be enough to result in a tourist’s jaw to drop… but the Verdura Golf and Spa Resort could very well leave visitors too lightheaded to even speak.

A luxurious getaway is what awaits those traveling to this island escape. Located near the town of Sciacca, miles away from the historic city of Agrigento and its Valley of the Temples, and an hour from the International Airport in Palermo, Verdura occupies a land unto itself, complete with all of the splendor Sicily has to offer.

Verdura Golf and Spa Resort is the 13th property in the Rocco Forte Collection in which Sir Rocco has truly outdone himself. Forte has designed hotels all over Europe, such as Hotel Savoy in Firenze, and The Lowry Hotel in Manchester, but number 13 has proven to be a very lucky one for its guests. Verdura offers 203 ocean view rooms and suites with private terraces overlooking 1.2 miles of private coastline, as well as six tennis courts, a 43,000 square foot spa, fitness and yoga center, four extravagant restaurants, a private beach, 55 private villas and two championship golf courses which are a “must play” for any golfer.

When asked about golf getaways in Europe prior to Verdura, Forte stated “there wasn’t anywhere in Europe that offered the kind of golfing holiday I was after”. So, he created one that changed the European resort golfing experience as we know it. The first task was to find a designer for the job. Kyle Phillips, whose work includes ‘The Kingsbarns Links’ near St. Andrews, and ‘The Grove’ outside of London, was chosen for this project. Phillips created two championship courses known as the East and the West, along with a 9-hole Par 3 course and a full practice facility. Both the East and West courses are Par 72 at just over 7,300 yards each, with many challenges awaiting golfers of all skill levels. Read More…

That’s Amore

With the creation of Verdura Golf & Spa Resort in Sicily, Italy is starting to come into its own as a golf destination.

Golf never really made the cut in Italy until recently. Known as the land of excellent cuisine, rich history, beautiful and diverse cities and passionate people, Italy didn’t quite have a golf experience to match. Sure, there was the effervescent Italian golfer Costantino Rocca, who left his mark on golf history with his improbable putt from the Old Course’s Valley of Sin that forced a playoff with John Daly at the 1995 British Open. But in one of the most traveled tourist destinations in the world, pickings were slim for avid golfers. A great day on an Italian course was all about the food and wine, and not necessarily the golf.

Times have changed. Just as the Molinari brothers, Edorado and Francesco, have elevated Italian golf in the pro ranks to neverbefore-seen levels with their Ryder Cup and European Tour heroics, now there is also a full-service resort whose quality and amenities place it in the game’s upper echelon. Verdura Golf & Spa Resort on the Sicilian coast, an 80-minute drive from Palermo, has changed the game’s image in Italy. The food and wine are exquisite, and so is the golf.

Architect Kyle Phillips, of Kingsbarns Golf Links fame (near St. Andrews), designed two 18-hole courses at Verdura that take maximum advantage of the land and views boasted by this five-star luxury resort, part of the Rocco Forte Collection of luxury hotel properties. Now even the Molinari brothers can be proud of a top quality golf experience in their homeland. These two championship layouts are joined by a fun par-three course, which serves as the perfect venue for a relaxed, late-day nine holes. And the magnificence of the links are rivaled by the excellence of the resort’s cuisine and treatments at the spa—be sure to try the Sicilian aroma massage and enjoy the heated indoor infinity lap pool, three outdoor saltwater pools of varying temperatures, and a fullyequipped gym.
Read More…

The Verdura Golf & Spa Resort in Siciliy

Spending time in the warm Mediterranean waters of Sicily might normally be enough to result in a tourist’s jaw to drop… but the Verdura Golf and Spa Resort could very well leave visitors too lightheaded to even speak.

A luxurious getaway is what awaits those traveling to this island escape. Located near the town of Sciacca, miles away from the historic city of Agrigento and its Valley of the Temples, and an hour from the International Airport in Palermo, Verdura occupies a land unto itself, complete with all of the splendor Sicily
has to offer.

Verdura Golf and Spa Resort is the 13th property in the Rocco Forte Collection in which Sir Rocco has truly outdone himself Forte has designed hotels all over Europe, such as Hotel Savoy in Firenze, and The Lowry Hotel in Manchester, but number 13 has proven to be a very lucky one for its guests. Verdura offers 203 ocean view rooms and suites with private terraces overlooking 1.2 miles of private coastline, as well as six tennis courts, a 43,000 square foot spa, fitness and yoga center, four extravagant restaurants, a private beach, 55 private villas and two championship golf courses which are a “must play” for any golfer.
Read More…

Verdura Golf & Spa Resort

The dream was to create Europe’s finest golf destination. The vision was that of hotelier Sir Rocco Forte, a passionate golfer who apparently scoured the Mediterranean coastline in search of the perfect site upon which to build a luxury resort for a discerning, high-end golf market. Remarkably, given its location, reputation and lack of golf amenities, his quest brought him to the south-west shores of Sicily, an Italian island better known for its links to organized crime than any propensity to organized recreation like golf.

Forte’s initial problem was that his chosen site was comprised of more than 70 individual parcels of land. Unperturbed, he acquired the necessary space (570 acres) to build his great sprawling dream and appointed Kyle Phillips to create a golf-centred Masterplan that would include two full layouts and a nine-hole par three course along with a superb 5-star hotel, conference centre, beach club, restaurants and Europe’s largest spa. There will also be a small residential subdivision here, but pleasingly the home sites are well removed from the golf.

Indeed, it’s the golf holes at Verdura that will put this resort on the international map and Sir Rocco rightly allowed Phillips to pick and choose the best parts of the property for his two main courses. Despite both tracks being built to the same standard, and occupying similar ground, the East and West courses provide alternate journeys for golfers to enjoy. Both start beside an internal practice range, the West has a more out-and-back arrangement with a long stretch of consecutive holes on the front nine but a stirring four-hole seaside finale. The East, by contrast, enjoys a two-loop routing that changes direction more frequently, its 18th hole is played right alongside the cliffs but the rest of the closing stretch is set on higher, tumbling ground.
Read More…

New 5-star resort Verdura offers great golf in Sicily

When you think of Sicily, golf probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind, but it is, in fact, home to one of Europe’s premier golf resorts, the new Verdura Golf & Spa Resort.

Located on Sicily’s southwest coast, the Italian resort has 45 holes of golf, all designed by golf course architect Kyle Phillips, whose credits also include Kingsbarns Links near St. Andrews, Scotland.

The resort sits on a 570-acre seaside site and features a world-class spa, five-star hotel, two 18-hole courses and a nine-hole par-3 course.

“It’s a unique low-density concept for a coastline property, with only electric vehicles allowed inside the resort. Golf purists will absolutely love it,” Phillips said.

“Near the seashore, I tried to give the golf a links-land feel with a rougher seaside look, transitioning to large rolling Muirfield-like landforms as it moves back away from the sea,” he added

Verdura’s East Course is 7,221 yards, and the West Course measures 7,474 yards from the championship tees. Phillips routed holes so that a Composite Championship Course could be formed to present a challenging venue for a future professional tournament.

The Championship Course would feature all of Verdura’s ocean holes and could play as long as 7,468 yards.

The Accidental Golfer
WorldGolf.com
July 27, 2010

Verdura Golf and Spa Resort in Sicily – Europe’s Unparalleled Golf Destination

Verdura Golf and Spa Resort in Sicily offers golfers from around the world an unrivaled golfing experience on Sicily’s southwest coast. The resort features three golf courses, designed by world-renowned architect Kyle Phillips, and opened for its first full year in March 2010. Verdura Golf & Spa Resort in Sicily is quickly becoming a “must play” destination for golf aficionados.

According to Sir Rocco Forte, Chairman and CEO of the luxury hotel company The Rocco Forte Collection, no other golf resort on the continent can compare to Verdura. “There wasn’t anywhere in Europe that offered the kind of golfing holiday I was after,” claims Sir Rocco who spent eight years developing Verdura as the company’s first resort venture.

Verdura’s 570-acre site encompasses some 1.2 miles of private coastline. Kyle Phillips, who created the acclaimed Kingsbarns Links near St. Andrews and The Grove near London, had a pristine canvas upon which to design his vision for the two 18-hole championship courses, the East and the West, as well as the neat little 9-hole par-3 course. “Sir Rocco Forte found a beautiful piece of seafront ground where we have combined our respective skills to develop a 5-star hotel and spa, 36 holes of championship golf, plus a 9-hole par-3 course and full practice facility,” says Phillips. “It’s a unique low-density concept for a coastline property, with only electric vehicles allowed inside the resort. Golf purists will absolutely love it. Near the seashore, I tried to give the golf a linksland feel with a rougher seaside look, transitioning to large rolling Muirfield-like landforms as it moves back away from the sea.”
Read More…

Italy: The Latest Home to Links Golf

An American golf course architect designing a seaside links in Scotland, just down the coast from St. Andrews, is akin to an English chef cooking coq au vin at Le Cordon Bleu. But that’s just what California-based Kyle Phillips managed to do a decade ago at Kingsbarns Golf Links. In his latest overseas venture, Phillips has laid out two spectacularly scenic yet understated 18-hole courses at Verdura Golf & Spa Resort, the new Rocco Forte Collection resort on the southern coast of Sicily.

The five-star resort–just over an hour from the international airport in Palermo and near the historic city of Agrigento, with its Valley of the Temples–has much to speak for itself, as Luxist noted in reporting the opening of the property. Not the least of Verdura’s attributes are suites and villas appointed with assorted mosaics, ceramics and artifacts culled from this primordial island by the interior designer Olga Polizzi, Sir Rocco Forte’s sister. The amenities also include four restaurants, among them a Sicilian trattoria, and a gelateria.
Read More…

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