Piandisole

Premeno sits on a ridge above Lake Maggiore in the Piedmont foothills, where the Alps begin their serious climb toward Switzerland. Golf at this altitude means playing through chestnut and pine forest with the kind of views across the lake and toward the Borromean Islands that stop you mid-backswing — the landscape doing what landscapes in this corner of northern Italy have always done, which is demand your attention at the worst possible moment.

Piandisole is a par 68, which tells you something important about its personality before you even arrive: this is a course built around precision and placement rather than power. Short par 4s and a collection of par 3s reward the thoughtful shotmaker over the bomber, and at an elevation that can shift weather quickly and unpredictably, club selection becomes a genuine puzzle rather than a reflex.

The club draws a loyal following from Milan and the Lombard lakes region, and the setting earns it — weekends here feel genuinely removed from the cities below, with mountain air, modest scale, and the particular unhurried tempo that Italian golf, at its best, does better than almost anywhere.