Verdura Resort is set to reopen its second 18-hole championship course next summer following a major renovation programme.
World-renowned course architect Kyle Phillips returned to Sicily last year to start work on improving his original design after a freak flood damaged a number of the championship layout’s holes along the coastline at the end of 2018.
Having completed all the design and construction work last autumn and winter, reseeding of the fairways, greens, tees and rough began at Verdura this summer.
The resort – home of the European Tour’s Rocco Forte Sicilian Open – will give the course plenty of time to grow in over the coming months but, providing everything goes according to schedule, it aims to reopen its second layout next summer.
Phillips said: “In early 2019, plans were assembled to conform the new landscape and shoreline configuration. The intertwined nature of the layout of the resort’s 36 holes required that the layout of the course remained intact, but there were significant adjustments to the specific design of each hole.
“Players returning to Verdura will be most likely to notice the changes that have occurred along the coastline and how we have incorporated them. All of which will add to the drama, and pleasure, of the course. They will also appreciate playing what is, effectively, a new course, with new surfaces on the greens, freshened bunkers and new turf in the fairways and roughs.”
Sir Rocco Forte, chairman of Rocco Forte Hotels, said: “I am tremendously excited by the new course and layout, which will enhance both the playing experience and magnificent views over the spectacular Sicilian coastline.”