Cortina d'Ampezzo, the Italian winter sports behemoth, has a great golf tradition and this new project aims to revive it. It is planned to develop into a full 18 holes, the future back 9 are currently in play. The site, being located in the middle of the Dolomites, is nothing short of spectacular, but also very severe. A masterful routing was needed, but only partly delivered, probably due to permitting issues.

There are some walks between holes and even the holes themselves can be hard to navigate in places. This leads to a lack of rhythm and a slight feeling of being disconnected from the land. The limitations of the site also prescribed a fairly short course and apparently much thought went into compensating for that by making it artificially difficult. It does work to a point, most of the short par 4s aren't driveable, but the overly technical approach takes away some of the charm.

The putting surfaces are extremely slick, very small and must be hit or else. There is little chipping to be had around the green complexes, the shotmaking must be 100% precise. Despite the harmless looking scorecard this is a very difficult track to score on. In all it is a strange affair, not a quirky mountain layout, not a championship course either. But the stunning landscape makes it one to see and, hole for hole, it is definitely fun to play.