Simply 24 hours earlier than I used to be attributable to depart the UK to go to Sicily, information broke that Mount Etna had ‘erupted’. As ever, in a information cycle that thrives on dramatic footage captured by eyewitnesses, inside seconds of the occasion, clips of an admittedly fairly scary quantity of ash cloud and fuel billowing out from one of many fundamental craters had been being aired throughout quite a few social media platforms and TV information channels.
Having seen the photographs extra carefully, I might have known as it extra of a ‘cough’ than an eruption – a ‘Pyroclastic Move’ to offer it its appropriate technical time period – however that doesn’t generate as many clicks on the Every day Mail’s algorithms.
Provided that the golf resort I used to be attributable to keep in was lower than 15 miles from mentioned volcano, my first thought on seeing the information was ‘Is the journey nonetheless on?’ My second thought, carrying my all-action journalist’s hat, was, ‘Whether it is nonetheless on, are we kind of more likely to witness a second ‘eruption/cough’ so quickly after this one’.
A sequence of speedy hearth messages on the journey’s WhatsApp group quickly allayed any fears that our go to might need to be postponed, because it turned out that the ash cloud, such that it was, was blowing in the other way of Catania airport, so there was a minimal likelihood of disruption to incoming flights, whereas the golf resort’s supervisor mentioned that they had been so used to Mount Etna letting off steam that they barely give a second’s thought to dissuading visitors from travelling when issues get a bit rumbly.
Catastrophe tourism is clearly a development market, as was witnessed when the Icelandic volcano that even the locals can’t pronounce went all tectonic on us final yr, so greater ranges of seismic exercise typically end in a surge in bookings.
Potential tragedy prevented, it was thus with a substantial amount of pleasure that after an uneventful two-and-a-half-hour flight from Gatwick, we landed in Catania, a coastal city positioned two-thirds of the way in which up Sicily’s jap seaboard. Safely on board a minibus, we stored our eyes glued to Etna’s snow-capped craters as we travelled the hour-long route that circumnavigates its decrease slopes as we drove to our vacation spot, Il Picciolo Golf Resort & Spa, which is positioned within the lengthy shadow of Europe’s most lively volcano.
RECENT RENOVATIONS
Whereas a part of Il Picciolo’s enchantment will, after all, be its dramatic location – who, in spite of everything, doesn’t need to have a pure surprise that has the capability to vaporise the locality instantly function a backdrop to a tough 20-foot downhill par putt? – it’s the resort’s glorious resort, famend hospitality, and high-quality golf course that has been attracting travellers to this picturesque and tranquil northeastern nook of Sicily ever because it opened in 1989.
Having modified arms 5 years in the past, when it was purchased by Sicilian-born brothers Andrea and Francesco Scrofani, the resort has undergone a sequence of great renovations, with €18 million having spent throughout the venue in numerous phases, beginning with the clubhouse, earlier than transferring onto the golf course, the resort and most not too long ago, a group of personal villas.
Your complete refurbishment has solely simply been accomplished, with the boutique-style 44-bedroom resort not too long ago changing into a part of the Curio Assortment by Hilton, a portfolio of impartial, upscale inns and resorts which might be chosen by Hilton for his or her distinctive character and distinctive experiences that profit from Hilton’s world reservation system and widespread loyalty programme.
Along with the resort lodging, the resort presents an additional 49 rooms unfold throughout a combination of residences and villas that overlook the golf, and an additional six rooms within the clubhouse. Many rooms characteristic non-public verandas wanting instantly out to Mount Etna and a winery that encircles the resort, giving it a sense of peace and tranquillity.
WINING, DINING & SPA-ING
The resort boasts a variety of bars and eating places, with our group having fun with magnificent lunches on the clubhouse terrace, the place plates of cured meats, freshly cooked pasta dishes and seafood specialities had been paired with some very tasty native wines.
The bar was raised up a degree at La Ghiandaia restaurant, the place the pinnacle chef served up a shocking six-course tasting menu that includes a mouth-watering collection of domestically sourced dishes that highlighted the magnificent vary of produce that Sicily has to supply.
A complete line-up of leisure facilities consists of two out of doors swimming pools, full with solar loungers and day beds, and a bar for snacks or a sundown aperitif. For indoor rest, the 950-square metre spa presents a heated pool with hydromassage, a Finnish sauna and steam room, and a Turkish bathtub. The citrus fruits of Sicily are key parts for visitors to expertise via spa choices included into therapies and massages provided in six non-public cabins.
CHAMPIONSHIP GOLF
However what of the golf, I hear you ask? It ought to, at this level, be famous that Sicily just isn’t overly blessed with golf programs. On the time of writing there are simply eight full-size layouts on provide, with the headline act being Verdura, the five-star Rocco Forte-owned venue, a former host of the DP World Tour’s Sicily Open, which is positioned on the western coast, some 280km due west of Il Picciolo.
Borgo di Luce I Monasteri, which additionally boasts a good 18-holer, is 150km due south, so be ready to do a good quantity of driving if you wish to play a couple of course in your journey.
Il Picciolo’s 18-hole observe, which first opened in 1989, enjoys a pedigree in Sicilian {golfing} circles, with its 5,645-metre, par-72 course having hosted 4 occasions on the Women European Tour between 1995 and 2011, and the Sicilian Seniors Open in 2010. Regardless of its relative quick size, the course’s problem lies to find the slender fairways, a lot of that are separated by long-since solidified lava fields, after which hitting the smallish greens, a lot of which characteristic important slopes.
TIGHT FAIRWAYS & GNARLY ROUGH
The one course on the island that hasn’t been sown with Bermuda grass, Il Picciolo calls for precision quite than energy, and the driving force, though a useful gizmo in the suitable arms, will barely be wanted if you wish to maintain some critically huge numbers off the cardboard as you hack about within the extraordinarily gnarly tough. Boasting 5 par fives and the identical variety of par threes, the holes are tight and difficult with loads of twists and turns, water and out of bounds to barter.
The spherical will get off on to what seems to be like a benign begin, with a modest, 320-yard par-4 that turns gently to the left, with a good drive leaving a wedge right into a flattish inexperienced. Nonetheless, a tee shot that discovered a fairway bunker resulted in a gouged lay-up, adopted by an over-hit method to a again bunker and a three-putt, triple-bogey seven that might have ended my hopes of successful the membership championship there after which had I been a member and enjoying in it.
The bunkers, it must be famous, have not too long ago been full of new sand, and whereas they’re pretty to have a look at, they’ve arguably been over-filled, which may result in ‘fried egg’ lies for balls which seemingly rolled harmlessly into them. The sand will calm down sooner or later, however for now they current harsh hazards from which a couple of blow was typically required to extricate your self.
BLOW BY BLOW
The primary of the course’s quintet of quick holes follows, with this being the simplest of them in keeping with the stroke index, with a 140-yard barely downhill shot to a big inexperienced protected by bunkers both facet of the placing floor leading to no severe harm to the scorecard.
The third is a brief, downhill par 4 which the most important of hitters could be tempted to tackle, however with out-of-bounds down the left and a row of bushes defending the suitable, a bunt down the center and a brief iron in appeared just like the extra wise plan of action.
There’s an uncommon run of three par-5s from the sixth to the ninth, with solely the par-3 eighth breaking apart the unrelenting slog. The seventh is arguably the most effective of the bunch, an extended, sweeping 530-yard gap that turns not as soon as, however twice to the suitable, circumnavigating a rocky terrace all of the whereas climbing till you ultimately attain the promised land that’s the inexperienced.
The again 9 get off to a powerful begin with the towering and visibly smoking Mount Etna offering a shocking backdrop to a 200-yard par-3 that requires an equally towering lengthy iron or hybrid to succeed in a raised inexperienced the place something hit quick will roll again a ways.
The par-4 eleventh measures 470 yards off the ideas is rated the toughest gap on the course, and with water all the way in which down the suitable facet of the slender fairway from 200 yards into the sting of the inexperienced, it’s not arduous to see why. A one-putt bogey right here, after lacking the inexperienced with my third, felt like an ethical victory of kinds.
The par-4 thirteenth – certainly one of a number of dogleg holes on the cardboard – requires a drive to the nook of the leg, leaving a brief wedge right into a inexperienced surrounded by rocky outcrops; whereas the 360-yard, par-4 14th is one other dogleg, this one requiring a well-placed drive to keep away from a lake that juts menacingly into the golf green between the tee and the inexperienced.
The fifteenth is the ultimate par-3, and the shortest, measuring simply 100 yards from the again tee, requiring little greater than a flick with a spot wedge. However with the inexperienced some 30-40 yards above your toes, you gained’t understand how properly you’ve fared till you hike up the hill. I went barely lengthy and mysteriously by no means noticed my ball once more.
STRONG FINISH
The closing trio of holes characteristic two pretty routine par 4s, each of which require supremely straight driving to keep away from having to chip out sideways, whereas the 18th is a suitably swashbuckling end, with the 550-yard, par-five requiring right-handers to hit a raking draw across the nook of a dogleg, nonetheless leaving 300 yards to a inexperienced protected by a big entrance left bunker.
Second time round, the course was simpler to strategize when it comes to shot choice, but it surely was no simpler to execute these photographs given the restrictions of my ability and the heavy punishment dished out for less-than-perfect photographs, of which there have been many. It’s a course that will frustrate some, but when golf was simple, it wouldn’t maintain us coming again for extra, and I would definitely would have loved a 3rd try ought to my provide of balls – and time – allowed.
Along with the golf course, Il Picciolo additionally boasts a driving vary, two follow chipping and bunker areas, and a follow placing inexperienced, whereas there may be additionally an indoor studio for membership fittings, classes and simulator golf.
With the elephant within the room being a bloody nice volcano in your doorstep, it’ll come as no shock that any journey to Il Picciolo will contain some kind of Mount Etna-based exercise.
Ours concerned a hike across the center slopes with a educated information, who confirmed us loads of spectacular sights largely that includes the destruction that may be brought on by hundreds of thousands of tons of sizzling magma rolling down a steep slope over 1000’s of years, however there any variety of other ways of expertise Etna’s energy and majesty, from trekking to mountain biking, motor biking to rafting, to horse driving and helicopter chartering.
The concierge at Il Picciolo are joyful to organise all kinds of off-site journeys for visitors, together with the entire above, in addition to visits to local vineyards, as we additionally did, the place you possibly can have a guided tour of an property and the behind-the-scenes manufacturing processes earlier than having fun with a tutored tasting to find the secrets and techniques behind the area’s distinctive viticulture.
COASTAL TREASURES
There are additionally numerous close by cities and villages to go to, together with to the seaside city of Taormina, a TikTokers paradise, the place each avenue and each view is value a reel in itself. With Mount Etna puffing away within the background, the city is framed superbly by the Mediterranean on one facet and rows of homes, residences, church buildings, and inns tittering on the vertiginous slopes on the opposite.
There’s a shocking 2,300-year-old Greek amphitheatre sitting out on a promontory overlooking the bay that performs hosts to quite a few live shows and dramatic performances, whereas a night stroll down the Corso Umberto, a slender, tiled avenue full of retailers, eating places and bars, can also be to not be missed. Then there’s Isola Bella, a tiny island linked to the mainland by a strip of seaside that disappears with the tide. It’s an image at its most postcard-like, and it’s no surprise that the makers of homicide thriller drama The White Lotus selected Taormina as a location to movie its second sequence, utilizing the 4 Seasons Lodge San Domenico as its beautiful centrepiece.
GODFATHER CONNECTIONS
Out subsequent cease, sitting excessive above Taormina was Savoca, a small medieval city that additionally has an enormous display screen connection after it was placed on the world stage in scenes from The Godfather, the primary movie in Francis Ford Coppola’s trilogy charting the rise and fall of mafia boss Michael Corleone. Our information confirmed us the locations that are actually synonymous with the movie, together with Bar Vitelli, the place Michael first meets his future spouse Apollonia’s father and asks for her hand in marriage, and the church the place Michael and Apollonia ultimately get married.
Though I used to be not nerdily educated concerning the finer particulars of the movie, Savoca is actually a gorgeous spot, and our group was quickly sharing YouTube clips from The Godfather in order that we might get a greater understanding of how little had modified on this village since these scenes had been shot over 50 years in the past. Many locals appeared as extras within the movie, and the girl who performed Apollonia’s mom, who’s now in her 80s and nonetheless lives within the village, was joyful to talk to us about working with Al Pacino and the crew.
So, whether or not you’re there to sort out its lava-fringed fairways, unwind in its luxurious spa, take pleasure in distinctive meals and wine, or discover the island’s dramatic volcanic panorama and charming coastal cities, Il Picciolo isn’t just a golf vacation spot —it’s a gateway to the guts and soul of jap Sicily.
For bookings and enquiries about golf breaks to Picciolo Etna Golf Resort & Spa, go to www.hilton.com/en/hotels/ctasiqq-piccolo-etna-golf-resort-and-spa or e mail [email protected]
