Golf Club Sanremo was founded in 1891. It is the oldest golf course on the Italian Riviera, the second oldest in Italy, and one of the oldest courses in continental Europe. The course has been playing in its current location — in the Armea valley behind Sanremo, in the olive groves for which it is named — since 1932, when the club moved from its original coastal location to the hillside site that the course still occupies.
The olive trees at Sanremo Ulivi are not young. The oldest specimens in the valley are centuries old — the silver-grey, wildly gnarled trunks that feature in every photograph of this course belonged to a working Ligurian olive grove long before golf arrived on the Italian Riviera. The course was designed around them, not planted among them. The distinction is visible in the way the trees relate to the holes.
Sanremo is not a world-ranked course. It is not a tournament venue. It is not in any ‘best in Italy’ list that relies primarily on technical design criteria. What it is — and what the platform’s gem series exists to describe — is a place where golf is played in an environment of historical and aesthetic significance that no amount of course design can manufacture from scratch.
Belle époque hotel architecture on the promenade below. Ligurian cuisine in the old town five minutes away. Ancient olive groves that predate the Roman Empire. And a golf course that has been played in all of it since 1891.
1891. Ancient olive groves. The oldest course on the Italian Riviera. Some things earn their history by still being worth visiting. Sanremo Ulivi is one of them.
The course: what you are actually playing
Sanremo Ulivi is a par-70, 5,200 metres — short by modern standards, which is accurate to its era and its hillside terrain. The routing uses the Armea valley contours and the olive grove topography to produce a course that rewards shot-making skills over power. The short distance is not a simplification — it is a reflection of design philosophy from an era when 250-metre drives were not the baseline.
The greens are small by contemporary standards and placed with the logic of a 1930s layout — elevated, well-defended by natural terrain rather than artificial bunkers, readable but not obvious. A mid-handicap player who plays creative golf will score here; a player who relies on hitting greens with mid-irons will find the old-course logic frustrating.
The visual experience is exceptional throughout. Every hole in the olive grove section — which is most of the back nine — is framed by trees that would stop the average visitor for photography regardless of the score. The light through ancient olive foliage in the late afternoon of a May or September day is the specific thing that distinguishes Sanremo Ulivi from every other course on this list.
The historical context worth knowing
The Sanremo Golf Club’s founding members in 1891 included several British expatriates who had made the Italian Riviera their winter residence — the same community that had built the promenade hotels, the casino, and the broader belle époque infrastructure of the Italian Riviera. Playing at Sanremo Ulivi is playing in a continuous tradition that goes back to the same moment that most of the European golf clubs this audience might call home were being founded.
The practical reality: what to know before you go
Sanremo is a Ligurian coastal town of approximately 55,000 permanent residents, with a well-developed tourism infrastructure built around the Casino, the flower market (Sanremo is Italy’s premier cut flower export region), and the Sanremo Music Festival. The town has several hotels at various price points, directly on the historic promenade or in the hills above.
The combination for a visit: golf at Sanremo Ulivi in the morning, lunch at one of the old-town restaurants where the Ligurian cuisine — pesto, fresh pasta, the local Riviera wines — is at its best, and the afternoon on the promenade or in the old town. Garlenda Golf (40 minutes along the coast) provides the second round for a multi-day Ligurian golf itinerary.
Green fees: approximately €40–65 — among the most accessible on the Gem list for a course of this historical significance.
Best time to go
April to June and September to October. The Sanremo Riviera climate is mild year-round — the town’s promotion as a winter resort reflects this. Spring is peak Ligurian season: the mimosa and broom flowers are in bloom alongside the olive groves, and the light has the specific quality that made the Riviera famous before travel photography existed.
Getting there: the logistics reality
Genoa Airport (GOA) is 90 minutes from Sanremo. Nice Airport (NCE) is 45 minutes — the better choice for UK and northern European travellers with strong Nice connections. Car rental is recommended for the Ligurian Riviera; the coastal road (the Aurelia, the old Roman route) between Nice and Sanremo is one of the most beautiful drives in the Mediterranean.
What to wear: the Inesea style edit
Sanremo has the belle époque Riviera aesthetic in its architecture and its self-presentation. The olive grove course calls for the agricultural Ligurian palette — warm stone, sage, the particular green-silver of the olive foliage. But the promenade and the old town in the afternoon call for something slightly more elevated.
This is the course where the course-to-dinner wardrobe decision is most genuinely important: the clubhouse at Sanremo Ulivi has the character of a 19th-century golf club, and the Casino promenade in the evening has the character of a 19th-century resort. Both deserve considered dressing.
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 in warm stone or sage — the olive grove palette.
A tailored ankle trouser in stone — course to old-town dinner to Casino promenade in one piece.
A fine-knit layer that reads as fashion in the evening — the and per se zip-neck or a MARK & LONA piece works here better than a technical wind layer.
The honest family verdict
Course quality ★★★☆☆ Historic short course in ancient olive groves. Exceptional historical and aesthetic significance. Technical challenge is limited by design era. Not a modern championship test.
Family infrastructure ★★☆☆☆ Sanremo town has family-accessible infrastructure. No dedicated golf resort programming.
Logistics ease ★★★★☆ Nice 45 minutes. Coastal road drive adds to the experience. Ligurian Riviera navigable by car.
Style and photography appeal ★★★★★ Ancient olive groves, belle époque backdrop, Ligurian light. The most historically distinctive visual environment on this entire list.
Value for money ★★★★★ €40–65 green fee for Italy’s second oldest course in one of Europe’s most atmospheric settings. Exceptional.
Who should book it
Golfers who want the historical and aesthetic experience alongside the golf — the intersection of belle epoque Italian culture and a sport that arrived with the same generation. Ligurian Riviera travellers building the Sanremo-Garlenda two-round combination. Anyone who wants to play somewhere that has been played since 1891.
Official site:
https://www.golfsanremo.com/en/home-2/
Who might look elsewhere
Players prioritising technical course challenge above all. The short yardage and 1930s design logic limit the challenge for low-handicap players. For technical challenge in Liguria, Garlenda is the answer; Sanremo is for the historical and atmospheric experience.
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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