Verdura West Course

The verdict

Verdura was built to be a great golf resort, and its two Kyle Phillips courses share the work between them. If the East is the one that hugs the sea, the West is the one that lets you stand back and take in the whole canvas. Phillips routed it across the rising ground behind the shoreline, using the natural roll of the land to give elevated tees, tilted fairways and greens that sit beautifully into the slopes, with the Mediterranean always somewhere in the view.

It is every bit a championship course, a par 72 of around 7,300 yards that asks for thoughtful, well shaped golf rather than brute force. The width is generous enough to keep the resort golfer happy, but the angles and the contouring reward the player who studies the line. Paired with the East, the spa and the Sicilian food and wine, the West completes a golf trip that ranks with anything in southern Europe.

The holes worth the trip

The West opens onto the rising ground and quickly shows its hand, with elevated tees that hand you the view and the angles, and fairways that roll and tilt enough to make position off the tee genuinely matter. Phillips defends the greens with clever sand and run off rather than length alone, so the better angle, earned by flirting with the edges, is always worth chasing.

The middle of the round is where the West earns its keep, climbing through the higher land with the sea spread out below and the Sicilian hills behind. The long views are constant, the breeze is a factor on the exposed holes, and the par 3s and shorter par 4s are beautifully sited into the contours. It is a course of variety and rhythm rather than a single signature stretch, which is exactly what makes it such a satisfying companion to the East.

Throughout, the conditioning is resort standard and the greens are quick and true. The West flatters good golf and gives the average player a fair, generous and gorgeous day out, the second great eighteen of a five star Sicilian resort.

Where to stay nearby

The obvious and best plan is to stay at the Verdura Resort itself, the Rocco Forte hotel set above its own beach with two championship courses, a celebrated spa and several restaurants. It lets you play the West and the East back to back and mix the golf with sea, spa and Sicilian cooking without ever leaving the estate, which is the whole point of a resort of this calibre.

For a broader Sicilian trip, the resort makes an easy base for day trips to the Greek temples at Agrigento, the baroque towns of the southeast and the vineyards of the interior. Few golf destinations marry the course and the culture as completely as the southwest coast of Sicily.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts at Verdura and along the Sicilian coast.