Golf Club Lecco

Annone di Brianza sits in the heart of Brianza, the hilly wedge of Lombardy that rises between Milan and the southern fingers of Lake Como. It is a landscape of wooded moraines, scattered villages, and views that, on a clear day, reach the snow-capped peaks of the Alps. Golf arrived in this part of northern Italy as it did across much of Lombardy — through the enthusiasm of the industrial and commercial families who built their villas here as a retreat from the city, and the region now supports one of Italy's denser concentrations of private clubs.

Golf Club Lecco takes its name from the provincial capital a short drive to the northeast, where Lecco anchors the eastern arm of Lake Como and the mountains begin in earnest. The course occupies the characteristic terrain of the Brianza hills — rolling and wooded, with the kind of natural contour that rewards course designers and punishes wayward shots in equal measure.

Playing here is an experience inseparable from its setting. The combination of private-club culture, alpine backdrop, and that distinctly Italian rhythm of a round — unhurried, sociable, ending properly at the table — gives Golf Club Lecco a character no scorecard can convey.