Verdura Golf & Spa Resort rated as Italy's best by new Rolex World's Top 1000 Golf Courses Guide

--West and East Courses Receive High Ratings--

Rocco Forte’s spectacular Verdura Golf & Spa Resort in Sicily has been honoured by being given the highest rating in Italy for one of its two courses in the newly published and ambitious Rolex World’s Top 1,000 Golf Courses Guide.  This golfer’s paradise on Sicily’s southwest coast, which only opened in March, sports two 18-hole championship courses by acclaimed American architect Kyle Phillips, who designed the world-class links gems Kingsbarns and Dundonald in Scotland.  In a few short months, Verdura’s West and East Courses have been recognized as a “must play” global attraction for the golf connoisseur.

The Rolex World’s Top 1,000 Golf Courses guide, the first such global golf ranking publication, evaluated some 33,000 courses in order to determine the most exceptional places to play.  A top score of 100 was awarded to only 15 courses, many of which are Open venues. Verdura’s West Course achieved a 90 rating to tie with only one other course in Italy and 35 other courses across the globe. The East Course garnered an excellent 85.

“It is truly exceptional for such a recent development to secure such an elevated ranking”, states Darius Oliver, the world's leading authority on golf course architecture, "Much credit for this must be attributed to Verdura’s Director of Golf, Niall Cameron and his green keeping staff."

In praising the quality of golf to be enjoyed on both Verdura Golf & Spa Resort’s courses, the Guide’s review stated:  “Sir Rocco Forte with his collection of exquisite boutique hotels has found a site almost unequalled anywhere.  Mutterings of Pebble Beach and Gleneagles by the sea are not just hyperbole and certainly not misplaced.  Seen from certain angles, this could be a little segment of Scotland looking out over the North Sea, only this is the Mediterranean.  Kyle Phillips of Kingbarns and Dundonald fame has produced the master plan for the courses and while acknowledging the stunning location he has not tried to compete with it but rather enhanced it.  Best of all, perhaps, and while anticipating that one day there might be a big tournament here, Phillips laid the courses out in such a way that they could be converted into a composite course making use of the whole stretch of holes along the shore line.”

The Verdura Golf & Spa Resort is the first resort venture for the prestigious Rocco Forte Collection.  According to Sir Rocco Forte, Chairman and CEO of the luxury hotel company, no other golf resort on the continent can compare to Verdura.  “There wasn’t anything in Europe that offered the kind
of golfing holiday I was after,” states Sir Rocco who spent eight years nurturing the resort.  Verdura’s majestic 570-acre site enjoys some 1.2 miles of private coastline and only electric vehicles are permitted on the grounds.

For more information about The Rolex World’s Top 1000 Golf Courses guide, visit www.rolextop1000.com.

Verdura Golf & Spa Resort is currently offering a range of Golf Break Packages. For example, the ‘Golf Short Break’: A relaxing break for two which includes three nights in a luxurious room or suite with uninterrupted sea views, two days of unlimited golf play including pull cart or trolley, daily buffet breakfast, daily dinner at a choice of four restaurants and two ‘sportsman’ lunches at Liola Restaurant. Prices start from €666 per night, for two people sharing a Deluxe Room.

To book or for more information on golf breaks at Verdura, visit www.roccofortecollection.com; Email: reservations.verdura@roccofortecollection.com or call +39 0925 998001.

To download a Verdura Golf Brochure, please visit: www.verduraresort.com/golf/golf-brochures/

Ends     

For further information:
Anna Martin or Ilse Van Steen
The Rocco Forte Collection
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7321 2626
Email: pressinformation@roccofortecollection.com

Notes to Editors:

Golf at Verdura Golf & Spa Resort

Verdura Golf & Spa Resort provides golf on a grand scale, with the personal service and attention to detail more usually associated with a private club. The resort’s extensive golf facilities include:
- Two 18-hole championship courses
- A 9-hole par-3 course
- A Golf Academy led by a PGA professional team
- Excellent practice facilities, with state-of-the-art technology
- Spectacular golf-playing surfaces of the finest grasses, maintained to the highest agronomic level
- Clubhouse with a Golf Shop, bar, restaurant and boutiques

Visit www.verduraresort.com/golf for more information

The Rocco Forte Collection

The Rocco Forte Collection is a family of 13 individual hotels and resorts. Each property has a unique style, reflecting its nationality and location, but all share The Rocco Forte Collection’s trademark attention to detail, high quality and immaculate service.

Established by Sir Rocco Forte in 1996, The Rocco Forte Collection comprises: Hotel de Russie, Rome; Hotel Savoy, Florence; The Balmoral, Edinburgh; The Lowry Hotel, Manchester; Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg; Hotel Amigo, Brussels; Brown’s Hotel, London; Villa Kennedy, Frankfurt; Hotel de Rome, Berlin; The Charles Hotel, Munich; The Augustine, Prague; Verdura Golf & Spa Resort, Sicily. Future openings: Abu Dhabi 2010; Marrakech 2012; Jeddah 2012; Cairo 2013.

www.roccofortecollection.com