May 17-19
Golf Club Bergamo L’Albenza
Northern Italy

The Golf Club Bergamo L’Albenza, in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, plans to celebrate its 60th anniversary with a three-day hickory festival. The event is a collaboration of Italian Hickory Players and Swiss Hickory Golf.

Paulo Quirici calls it a “once-in-a-lifetime event.” Quirici won the 2013 World Hickory Open and has been called “Switzerland’s most successful professional golfer.”

The festival will launch with a professional “Skins Game,” two-player scramble style, featuring Quirici, Italian Ryder Cup star Constantino Rocca, former European Tour player Baldovino Dassù, Manuel Piñero (1977 British PGA champion from Spain), four-time European Tour winner Raphaël Jacquelin from France, and two-time European Tour winner Markus Brier of Austria.

Rocca will enjoy a homefield advantage – Bergamo is his home club, where he began as a caddie. (https://golfbergamo.club/en/)

A two-round hickory event will be played in two categories: strokeplay for pros and amateurs with handicaps of 11.4 or less and Stableford for handicaps of 11.5 to 54.

The first 18 holes (of 27) at Bergamo were designed by the London firm of Cotton & Sutton. It is referred to as “a highly technical course,” with elevated tees, water hazards created from natural springs, bunkers, and an array of natural inclines. Rated one of the Top 3 courses in Italy by leadingcourses.com, Bergamo hosted the 1996 Italian Open.

Deadline for entry into the Hickory Festival is 30 March. For an inscription form and hotel information, contact: hickoryfestival.bergamo@gmail.com.