Golf Club Genova St. Anna

Varied layout – poor maintenance

3.0 of 5 starsReviewed July 7, 2024

Played mid-April 2024, HCP 16

A parkland course beautifully embedded in the hills. The fairways are cleverly interwoven - yet you hardly ever see the neighbouring fairways and have the feeling of being completely alone in the open country. Many magnificent old trees greet you from the edge of the fairway. All around are mountains, the tops of which seem to be constantly covered in mist - almost a little "unreal".

There is a wonderful peace and quiet, you hardly see any other players and, at least on the day we played, you couldn't hear any greenkeeping work.

Almost every hole is unique - variety guaranteed. However, most of the holes have one thing in common: they are short (length of the course from the regular yellow men's tees is 5,575m), but VERY narrow. Staying straight is essential! (At least on the day we played, some of the tees were also significantly further forward, making the course feel even shorter.)

The greens are moderately fast, not very undulating, but often slope so steeply in one direction that you have no chance of stopping the ball if you land on the wrong side of the green. Knowledge of the course would be (not really surprisingly) an advantage!

Sand hazards only come into play very occasionally, and many holes have no fairway bunkers at all.

Now and then, watercourses run alongside the fairways. Now and then, a pond or a large ravine must be crossed from the tee - challenging, but doable. A few times, a ditch crosses the fairway immediately before the green. Then tactics (lay or attack?) are called for.

Unfortunately, you have to make compromises when it comes to the condition of the course. The greens are good, the bunkers are filled with the finest, pebble-like sand and are therefore top notch. Unfortunately, there is hardly any grass on the tees, just bare earth. The fairways seem to consist of every type of grass and moss in the world. This spoils the look, but they are still playable. The semi-rough is OK - mown short enough to find the balls and still be able to play.
Overall, the club (including the parking lot, clubhouse, catering, etc.) unfortunately gives a somewhat “run-down” impression.

You also have to make slight compromises in terms of "service". The secretary's office is sometimes unoccupied and you have to look for help. The caddy master asked for the voucher for the cart - the secretary had forgotten it or had not told him. Explanations of where the range, first tee or changing rooms are are only given on request. You get the impression that they rarely have guest players here or are not really interested in them. The catering also closes shortly after lunch - but judging by the menu on display, this is probably a situation that is easy to overlook.

We HIGHLY recommend using a cart!!! It goes up and down, often with long paths between the holes!

Conclusion: A pretty brilliant layout with varied courses in a beautiful landscape. That would be a solid 4 stars. Unfortunately, due to the shortcomings in maintenance and service, you have to make compromises, so a good 3 stars. It was still a lot of fun! (In the "Golf Bear Ranking": 6 out of 10 points - 7 would be possible with better maintenance.)

Translated by Google.