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Bordighera Golf Club, Liguria. (1924 - 1939)

In 1924, Bordighera Golf Club was instituted and a 9-hole golf course opened at Camporosso, approx. 3km North West of Bordighera, where a sufficiently large piece of land for a golf course could be found.

Report on the opening In February 1924.

The Bystander Wednesday 20 February 1924. Image © Illustrated London News Group. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.

Report and picture of the course in November 1924.

The Sphere Saturday 29 November 1924. Image © Illustrated London News Group.

According to “Golf in the Sun All the Year Round in Southern England and on the Continent” published by Southern Railways around 1930 “The attractiveness of Bordighera as a winter resort has been greatly increased by the golf course which was opened in 1924.

Lying near the mouth of the Nervia, it is most conveniently situated, being just two miles from Bordighera and Ventimiglia and not far from the tram routes between these two towns. From Monte Carlo, Mentone, San Remo and Ospedaletti it is easily reached by motorcar or railway, the station Valle Crosia being just at the junction of the main road and the road to the links.

There is a restaurant in the well-equipped Clubhouse and a Professional is always in attendance. A number of attractive competitions are held each year. The subscription for the season is 400 Lira, for shorter periods there is a proportionate reduction. Information will be readily furnished by the Hon. Sec., Villa Maria Theresa, Bordighera”

Around 1930 modifications were made to the golf course, a new 3rd green was built. Also the old holes No. 5 and 6 became one long hole now stretching out over 526 meters.

2,333 meter equals 2,552 yards, which is the total length also given in the Golf in Italy guide from 1932 (third picture below.)

A contributor to the website has looked into the Open of Italy and found out that W.H.Jolly was actually involved in the early history of the Open in Italy. Following is a translation of the text from the Open Italia website;  “Italian Open - A long history for an incredible intertwining of personalities and episodes, of resounding feats and disappointments, of champions who have ennobled the roll of honour and others who have brought prestige to the tournament despite not winning. 

It is difficult to think, ninety years later, that the first one was played between three distinguished gentlemen in suits, because all it takes is a raincoat to make movements awkward. William H. Jolly and Luigi Prette must have been aware of this, who, on that distant September 1925 tee, took off their jackets, but not Francesco Pasquali, who limited himself to carefully buttoning them up before executing perfect swings. He completed the 36 holes in 154 strokes, one less than Jolly, and inaugurated the roll of honour that was later to prove rather avaricious with the Italians.”

William Henry Jolly was professional at Bordighera. He was brother of the more famous Herbert Charles Jolly.

Mashie golf club stamped W H Jolly - Special Own Model A5.

Layout of the golf course in 1931.

The clubhouse, course information and officials in 1931.

From the Golf in Italy Guide 1932.

The fifth green in 1932.

There are entries for Bordighera Golf Club in the Golfer’s Handbook. The 1933 and 1939 editions state that the membership is 48 and Conte Enrico de Galleani acts as honorary secretary, while W.H. Jolly is both green-keeper and professional also holding the course record with 62 strokes.

The last entry for the Bordighera Golf Club is to be found in the 1949 edition of the Golfer’s Handbook, but as it is often the case in the golfer’s handbook, it seems that this is just a repetition of a pre-war entry and most probably, the club did not survive the war period. In addition, Bordighera is not mentioned in the 1953 yearbook of the Italian Golf Federation.

It seems to me that in the beginning Bordighera Golf Club was instituted also to make up for the loss of the old pre-war golf course at Arma die Taggia near San Remo. Again, I assume that when the new San Remo golf course opened in 1931 less and less golfers were playing at Bordighera, which was only a 9-hole course anyway.

Christoph Meister

November 2017.

Google Map below shows the location of the former golf course.