One of Italy’s oldest golf clubs is to undertake a major renovation at the hands of golf architect Dr Wilfried Moroder.

GC Carezza in the Dolomite mountains dates originally from 1904, only a year after the foundation of the Circolo Golf Roma Acquasanta, Italy’s oldest course. Carezza’s original nine holes were expanded to eighteen in 1921, and illustrious names like Empress Sissi of Austria and Sir Winston Churchill spent their holidays at the famous Grand Hotel Carezza.

When the hotel closed in 1957, the course was abandoned until 1989, when Marco Croze brought nine holes back into play. Now, local investor Alexander Gostner has acquired a controlling stake in the course, and plans and upgrade.

Gostner hired Moroder, based in nearby Bolzano, to work on the project. “The course is located at 1650 m above sea level on a sunny plateau and has a fantastic view to the surrounding mountain scenery,” said Moroder. “During the winter, the clubhouse runs as a skiing lodge. The course features some impressive holes and panoramic views from tees and greens, but some require blind shots or provide dangerous situations, due to the longer shots of today’s golfers.”

Moroder’s masterplan has now been submitted for building permission. “The par four seventh hole is blind and too short for today’s golf – long hitters trying to reach the green, located down in a hidden spot, put other players in serious danger,” the architect said. “Therefore we shall build new back tees to lengthen the hole and a lake at the left side of the green.”

“The par four eighth has a steep uphill fairway with an almost blind second shot to a elevated green, this fairway will be reshaped opening the view to the green,” Moroder added. “At the par three ninth hole, again you can’t really see the green surface, so we plan to move the green a little to the left and have it reached from the present eighth fairway as a good par five finishing hole.”