Lake Como Golf Club

Lake Como Golf Club
Driving competition at the opening of the Lake Como Golf Club, Dervio, 1905
Lake Como Golf Club
Lake Como Golf Club
Location within Italy
46°04′26″N 9°18′14″E / 46.073819°N 9.303831°E / 46.073819; 9.303831
Club information
LocationDervio, Italy
Established1905
TypePrivate
OwnerFrederick Gustavus Hamilton-Russell
Total holes9
Designed byJohn Henry Taylor
Length2,150 metres (2,350 yd)
The club-house, 1905

The Lake Como Golf Club was one of the first golf clubs in Italy. It was established at Dervio in 1905 and had ceased all activity before 1922.

It was founded chiefly on the initiative of a group of English residents holidaying in Bellagio: Margaret Scott, winner of the first three British Ladies Amateur championships (1893, 1894 and 1895), and her husband Frederick Gustavus Hamilton-Russell, who is recorded as the club's Captain.

In 1906 the club had 37 members, rising to 40 in 1908 and 1909, before returning to 37 in 1912.

The course

The course was designed by J. H. Taylor and had nine holes, measuring 2,320 yards in 1912 and 2,347 yards in 1915.

This course is fortunate in possessing a light sandy soil and excellent greens. Though comparatively short, 2320 yards, each hole is made interesting by sand bunkers or natural hazards, chief among the latter being the river Varone, which lies obliquely across the course in front of the 9th tee, and adds to the interest of one or two other holes. The course has recently been lengthened and much improved.

— Margaret R. Hamilton-Russell, 1912

A club-house was built to accommodate English visitors; the building, although altered over the years, still stands today.

Diversion of the Varrone stream

In 1908 Frederick Gustavus Hamilton-Russell obtained permission to divert the final stretch of the Varrone stream so that it would cross the golf course. As a result, the stream bed was considerably shortened and made straight.

Closure of the club

The golf club was still listed as active in 1921, but by February 1922 part of the course's land had already been transferred to the firm of Vincenzo Pensa.

References

  1. 1 2 "Lake of Como Golf Club". The Times. 9 May 1905. p. 12.
  2. 1 2 Brivio, Dino. "Dervio". Itinerari lecchesi sul lago della 36 (in Italian). Lecco: Stampa Grafiche Stefanoni, Edizione della Banca popolare di Lecco. p. 130.
  3. 1 2 Wyndham, Horace (1921). "Golf in Italy". Baily's Magazine of Sports & Pastimes. 115. London: 111–113.
  4. ↑ Hutchinson, Horace (1899). The Book of Golf and Golfers.
  5. 1 2 "Club Directory". The Golfing Annual. 19. London: 250–251. 1905–1906.
  6. ↑ "Club Directory". The Golfing Annual. 22. London. 1908–1909.
  7. 1 2 3 Nisbet's Golf Year Book. 1912.
  8. ↑ Rumi, G. (2002). Storia di Como. Dall'età di Volta all'epoca contemporanea (1750–1950) (in Italian). Como.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. ↑ Casanova, M., ed. (2014). Dervio. Il territorio e la storia (in Italian). Dervio.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. ↑ Mori, Assunto (1925). "Il delta conoide del Varrone (Lago di Como) e il suo eccezionale avanzamento nel periodo 1909–1925". Bollettino della Società Geologica Italiana (in Italian). 44: 203–212.
  11. ↑ Gazzetta Ufficiale del Regno d'Italia, 17 June 1927, p. 2189: "Venne prodotto addi 15 febbraio 1922 un ricorso della ditta Vincenzo Pensa, subentrata al sig. G. F. Hamilton Russell nella proprietà di alcuni terreni siti presso la foce del Varrone in comune di Dervio."

Bibliography