The origins

The course of Villa d'Este Golf Club was built in 1926 on the Como hills dominating the lake of Montorfano and in the suggestive and romantic perimeter of more than 30,ooo pinetrees, chestnut-trees and birchtrees, incomparable natural beauty, a corner of Paradise that has been and it is one of the destination of many refined golfers.
In the "Gold Book" of the Club there are prestigious signatures, like King Leopold of Belgium and Queen Liliane De Retby, their son Baldovino, Edward of England, Alfonso XIII of Spain, Costantino of Greece and most of the aristocratic names of Europe, without forgetting the populars names like Clark Gable and Bing Crosby.

In 1925 The Society, owner of the Grand Hotel Villa d'Este di Cernobbio, gave commission to a committee composed by Lord Alberto Bellinzaghi Locatelli, Amerigo Ponti and Guglielmo D'Ombrè to find the area, to design and built a golf course.

The area was found three months later in Monte Orfano, and the assignament to design and build the course was given to the English architect Peter Gannon; two years later the "Circolo Golf Villa d'Este" entered in the History of the noble game of golf.
The first edition of the Italian International Amateurs Golf Championship was played in 1932, the victory went to the English Dewirl over the Italian Crivelli (8-7) The next edition played in Villa d'Este was in 1937 where Luzzato won over Hamilton (6-5); after The World War II, the course of Montorfano hosted for the next 17 years the "Championship". On the Villa d'Este course from 1934 has played 39 times the Italian International Ladies Amateurs Golf Campionship.
This event was won 12 times by probably the best player in the Italian Ladies golf history, Isa Bevione Goldschmidt.

If the history of the club was made sportingly by the champions, where they recited enthusiastic, dramatic passionate spectacles, the major protagostinists of the 73 years of the club are those who gave body and soul for the club, helped to grow up and improve. The Presidents : from Alberto Bellinzaghi Locatelli (1925-1936), Ettore Conti (1936-1946), than Camillo Livi, 26 years of great mandate (1946-19729, to get Leopoldo Varasi (1972-1990) who brought his managing experience and love for the game.
The inheritance of President Varasi (died in 1990) was picked up by Roberto Tronchetti Provera that few days after his election, he had to confront with the most tragic event of the club history: the fire of the 8th December 1990 that distroyed part of the Club House.

Today

Roberto Tronchetti Prover, with the help from all the members of the club, brillantly went through this hard task of the reconstruction, he flung again the social and sport life of the club, he arranged to bring the club back to the position that always belong to the club in the history of the game of golf. Among the secretaries that left a track in the life of the Villa d'Este Golf Club, the first place belong to Willy D'Ombrè Secretary from 1950 to 1972.
To continue the tradition of great secretaries of Villa d'Este now has been called Gianluigi Orecchioni. Another record that Villa d'Este hold, is the great names of professionals that has been working in the Club. After a long parenthesis of the two English Jim Wilson and W. Horne founders of the "Golf School" in Montorfano, it was the turn of Giovanni Locatelli, the big Pietro Manca, Ugo Grappasonni, two times winner of the Italian Open, Alfonso Angelini, than Luciano Grappasonni, Mario Napoleoni, Italo Tremolada, Luciano Marsala, Aldo Casera and Carlo Grappasonni. The teachers in activity now are Giancarlo Frigerio, Pietro Molteni and Giovanni Ciprandi that will continue the tradition of the "Golf School" in Villa.
ncarlo Frigerio, Pietro Molteni e Giovanni Ciprandi che continuano la tradizione della "Università Golfistica" di Villa d'Este.