I Pioppi

The Po Valley gives way to the Alps here in Cuneo, the provincial capital that sits at the confluence of the Stura di Demonte and Gesso rivers in southern Piedmont. It's a part of Italy that earns its attention through substance rather than spectacle — truffle country, Barolo and Barbaresco wine territory, and a landscape defined by the steady drama of the Ligurian and Cottian Alps rising to the south and west. Golf in this corner of Piedmont occupies a distinct niche, removed from the tourist circuits of Tuscany or the lake districts, drawing a local membership that tends to take the game seriously.

I Pioppi takes its name from the poplar trees — pioppi — that are a defining feature of the Piedmontese lowland landscape, lining irrigation channels and field edges throughout the region. The name alone suggests a course that works with its natural surroundings rather than imposing on them.

For visiting players, this is golf embedded in everyday Italian provincial life, with the Alps as a constant backdrop. Cuneo rewards the traveler willing to venture beyond the obvious, and a round here is part of that same sensibility.