The Italian Riviera has been a European leisure destination since the 19th century. The coastline from Genoa to the French border — the Riviera di Levante and the Riviera di Ponente — was the original Mediterranean tourist circuit, attracting northern European families for the winter climate and the specific atmosphere of a coastline that has been taking care of visitors for a very long time.
Golf Club Garlenda sits inland from the Riviera di Ponente, in the Arroscia valley behind Albenga, in an olive grove that has been producing oil since before the golf course existed. The course was designed by John Morrison in 1965 on land that the Italian agricultural tradition had been shaping for centuries. The result is a course that looks as though it grew from the landscape rather than being placed on it.
Ranked in Italy’s top-15 courses by the Golf Club Garlenda was the venue for the Italian Open in the 1970s and 80s. It has hosted professional golf. It has done so without announcing itself to the international market in the way that its quality justifies.
This is, precisely, a gem.
An olive grove designed in 1965, in a Ligurian valley 15 minutes from the Riviera, with greens that the Italian club culture has been maintaining with pride for sixty years. Nobody writes about this. That is why we do.
The course: what you are actually playing
Garlenda is a par-72, 6,102 metres, built through the olive groves and cork oak forest of the Arroscia valley. The Morrison design uses the natural terrain changes of the valley floor and the surrounding hills to produce a course of genuine variety: the lower holes play through the olive groves in the flat valley sections, the upper holes use the hill terrain for elevation change and views toward the Ligurian Apennines.
The olive trees are the defining visual feature — ancient Ligurian olive groves of the kind that are protected by regional legislation, their gnarled silver-grey trunks framing fairways in a way that creates a visual character entirely unlike any other course on this list. In April and May, the olive blossom is present. In September and October, the harvest preparations are visible. The agricultural calendar and the golf calendar share the same landscape.
The course condition is consistently excellent — the Italian club culture that maintains Garlenda takes pride in this, and the course repays attention. The greens are some of the truest in northern Italy; the fairways drain well in the valley position. A mid-handicap golfer who has played primarily on modern resort courses will encounter a design sensibility here that is more demanding in its use of terrain and more forgiving in its fairway width.
The hole worth knowing
8th hole par-5: the long hole that climbs from the valley floor to the hillside, with the Ligurian Apennines visible behind the green. The second shot decision — going for the elevated green in two, or laying back to a comfortable approach angle — is the strategic centrepiece of the round. The view from the green back down to the valley is worth arriving at regardless of the score.
The practical reality: what to know before you go
The town of Garlenda itself is a small Ligurian agricultural village of approximately 800 permanent residents. The accommodation options within the golf complex (a small hotel adjacent to the course) and in the surrounding area cover the requirements for a golf-focused two to three night stay. For a broader Ligurian itinerary, the coastal towns of Alassio (10 minutes) and Albenga (8 minutes) have more accommodation variety and access to the Riviera di Ponente beach infrastructure.
The Riviera context is the practical bonus that no other gem on the Italian list provides: the Ligurian coast, with its specific atmosphere of palm trees, Baroque architecture, and the particular Italian light that the Riviera has been famous for since the 19th century, is 15 minutes from the golf course. A morning round and an afternoon on the Alassio beach is a genuinely complete day.
The Cinque Terre — the UNESCO-listed coastal villages east of La Spezia — are 90 minutes from Garlenda. For a family where the adults want golf and the children want the Cinque Terre hiking trails, the combination produces a week where nobody is compromised.
Best time to go
April to June and September to October. The Ligurian Riviera is milder than the rest of the Italian Mediterranean coast — warm enough for golf year-round but at its most beautiful in spring and autumn. The olive grove in April is in blossom. In October the harvest gives the course and its surroundings the specific quality of a working agricultural landscape at its most photogenic moment.
Getting there: the logistics reality
Genoa Airport (GOA) is 90 minutes from Garlenda. Nice Airport (NCE) is 80 minutes — better-connected from most European cities and the correct choice for UK travellers and those from northern European cities with strong Nice service. Milan Malpensa (MXP) is 2.5 hours — viable for a longer stay.
Car rental is essential. The Ligurian Riviera infrastructure makes it easy to navigate once in possession of a car, and the combination of golf course, coastal town, and hill villages requires mobility.
What to wear: the Inesea style edit
The Garlenda visual environment — the olive grove silver-grey, the Ligurian stone, the Riviera light — rewards a palette that responds to the ancient agricultural landscape. Warm stone and ecru work with the olive grove backdrop; deep sage responds to the landscape colour in a way that terracotta does not. The Riviera afternoon, if the day extends to the coast, calls for something slightly more fashion-forward than a standard club environment.
Three pieces worth packing
An ANEW or and per se structured top in sage or warm lavender — the Provençal palette connection is genuine.
Tailored ankle trousers in stone — Peter Millar or J.Lindeberg. The course and the Michelin dinner in the same piece.
A MARK & LONA wind gilet in a neutral — the Riviera wind in spring and autumn is real; the Japanese quiet luxury aesthetic fits the resort register perfectly.
A polo or structured top in warm ecru or sage — the olive grove palette.
An ankle trouser in stone — the Riviera evening after the round requires the course-to-dinner piece.
A sun visor or lightweight cap — the Ligurian sun on the open hillside holes is more intense than the valley sections suggest.
The honest family verdict
Course quality ★★★★☆ 1965 Morrison design in ancient olive groves. Italian Open pedigree. Top-15 Italian ranking. Excellent course quality in a landscape with no equivalent.
Family infrastructure ★★☆☆☆ No resort infrastructure. Alassio and Albenga provide coastal family activity nearby. Cinque Terre 90 minutes for the hiking families. Best planned as part of a broader Liguria itinerary.
Logistics ease ★★★☆☆ Nice 80 minutes or Genoa 90 minutes. Car essential. Ligurian context adds navigational complexity that rewards planning.
Style and photography appeal ★★★★★ The olive grove setting is unique on this entire list. Ancient Ligurian agriculture and 1960s golf course design in the same landscape. Every photograph has character.
Value for money ★★★★★ Green fees €40–75 for a top-15 Italian course in one of Europe’s most beautiful agricultural landscapes. Exceptional value.
Who should book it
Golfers building a Ligurian or Riviera itinerary who want the finest course in the area as the anchor. Families who want to combine golf with the Cinque Terre and the Italian Riviera. Anyone who wants to find something genuinely undiscovered before the editorial consensus arrives.
Official site:
https://www.garlendagolf.it/golf-club-garlenda-en-2/
Who might look elsewhere
Families needing resort infrastructure and dedicated junior programming. Those wanting the Sicilian coastal drama or the Sardinian glamour of the Tier 2 courses. Garlenda is for the golfer drawn to agricultural Italy rather than resort Italy.
About the author
Diana Suke
Diana Suke is the founder of Inesea and Europe's leading editorial voice on women's golf fashion and culture. A business transformation director by profession, she coordinates junior golf programmes across Malta and travels the Mediterranean circuit with two competitive junior golfers. She came to golf in her mid-thirties and hasn't looked back.
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