Le Pavoniere Golf Club

What a course designed by Arnold Palmer. Many water hazards and bunkers in a great Tuscan country make this course very special.

I often play this course that is considered one of the 3 best in Italy!

Le Pavoniere Golf & Country Club is located few Kilometres from Florence on the plain between the city of Prato and the Montalbano hills, in a plot of ground of the ancient Cascine di Tavola, which were the farms of the Medici villa at Poggio a Caiano. It’s not far from the city of Prato and it’s a five minutes drive from the motorway exits of Prato East and Prato West. The only problem to reach the circle is that the road signs are few and, especially in the industrial area, built in the late XXth century between the Golf Club and the city, they are lost among the countless indications of textile and clothing companies.

The proximity to the industrial area is not a problem when you play on the golf course from where you can admire towards the north the Apennine mountains and southward the so-called Medici Hills, without being disturbed by any noise since all the busy streets runs more than one kilometre far from the circle boundaries. Along the course of the eighteen holes you can often see hares, pheasants, geese and coots that reside here.

The services are in line with expectations. There are comfortable changing rooms for guests and an elegant clubhouse, set in a nineteenth-century farmhouse, with bar and restaurant. If you want to practice a large driving range is placed in the locker room area, enriched by a pitching green with bunkers. A small chipping/putting green has been positioned in the vicinity of the starting tee of the first hole, while the main putting green is located in front of the porch of the restaurant.

The Golf Course, designed by Arnold Palmer, is spread over a flat area that has been artificially modified to create more ripples. However, there are only small and gentle slopes. The main difficulty of the course is the presence of numerous water hazards that peek in 13 of the 18 holes, worth mentioning the sixth and thirteenth hole with fairways on islands. The fairways are excellent and well kept, you may have some small problems if the season is very rainy since same depressions of the course have a poor drainage. The greens are large and fast, often with slopes that can create some troubles in determining the strength of putt.

There isn’t a large presence of tall trees blocking your shots but the flip side of this is that there is a lack of shade during sunny days. This area is quite windy and so, in spring and autumn, there is the possibility to play accompanied by a breeze or, if you are unlucky, by an annoying wind.

The Golf Course is more insidious when dared with aggressive play, in many cases it is advisable to give yourself one more shot to approach more closely to the green with less risk. It is also suitable for average players but to enjoy the day without solemn anger you must be precise on the tee shots.

Great course, beautiful view, very close to Florence with a fantastic Restaurant