The Italian Open presented by Regione Emilia-Romagna is here. After three consecutive years holding the tournament at Marco Simone in Rome, this season the Italian Open changes venue. For the first time in its long history, it is played at Adriatic Golf Club Cervia, near the city of Bologna, between Ravenna and Rimini and just an hour’s drive from San Marino.
This weekend, the Emilia-Romagna region will become one of the nerve centres of sport as the Tour de France kicks off a few kilometres from the course. Add to this the Formula 1 championship that is held there every year, and we find a region that is heavily committed to sport.
It was 99 years ago in 1925 that the first edition of one of the most traditional tournaments on the continent was held, and one of the few that have been held since the creation of the European Circuit back in 1972. The winner of the event will join the likes of Bernhard Langer, Tony Jacklin, Greg Norman or Ian Poulter among other greats who have been champions of this event.
Whoever wants to inscribe their name among the winners on Sunday will have to fly very low in Ravenna. Will we see the most resounding result of the season? At the moment, that ‘record’ is held by Thorbjorn Olesen with -27 in Ras Alkhaimah and closely followed by the -26 that returned Matteo Manassero to glory on the European Circuit.
Some of those present there argue that the champion could be around 24 under par. If any of these aliens are particularly inspired, the Dane’s figure could not be ruled out. The calculations are just that, calculations, perhaps in the end it is won with a figure close to twenty under par. What is clear is that we could witness a real dart contest.
Adriatic Golf Club Cervia is not a very long course (6345 meters), with a sparse rough and where the main defence of the course will be small greens. It is true that the rough around the green does seem to have greater consistency. “An approach and putt contest,” comments one person on the ground. “Then this starts and it’s never as simple as it seems,” he concludes cautiously. Obviously, if the wind comes into play, the situation becomes much more complicated. For now, it doesn’t seem to be the case.
One thing is theory and another is what happens in practice. These players are very good, but the tour also has its tools to complicate the course. In fact, it is rumoured that these days a flag could be placed two steps from the front, something that happens very rarely on the tour. When you want to complicate a flag position, you place it three or four steps away, but almost never two. We’ll see if it finally happens. Nut and counter-nut on the part of the tournament management to bring out the best version of the players.
A peculiarity of the course, the 18th hole is a short par four, dogleg to the left with a small rough that divides the fairway. It is expected that the tee will be moved forward at the weekend and the green can be caught in one shot. Favouring the show.
Among the Spaniards present at the tournament is a double winner of the tournament, Gonzalo Fernández Castaño (2007 and 2012). Alongside the Madrid native are another twelve members of the Armada: Adrián Otaegui, Pablo Larrazábal, Adri Arnaus, Santiago Tarrio, Alejandro del Rey, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Ángel Hidalgo, Manuel Elvira, Iván Cantero, Sebastián García, Alfredo García Heredia and Ángel Ayora. The latter earned his place a month ago after passing the tournament’s preliminary round. All of them are pushing their options to play the British Open and for this they must finish among the top two who do not already have an exemption to play it. There are more possibilities, you can find here all the options. The one who will not be in Italy is Nacho Elvira who has just become a father for the second time and has decided to skip the event.
The tournament kicks off this Thursday with the Italians as the main standard bearers of their tournament. Matteo Manassero will try to win the national open for the first time in his career. In addition, Guido Miggliozzi arrives in top form after his victory at the KLM Open last week. Both will fight for the colours of the azzurra at the Paris Olympics. Francesco Molinari, double champion of the tournament, will not be part of this edition. Dodo, the elder of the brothers, who is looking for his first national Open in Ravenna, will be. Among the local youngsters, the presence of Giovanni Binaghi stands out, who gave a real exhibition at the last Ryder Cup Junior and wants to continue making strides in his amateur career.
The tournament will also feature the presence of Danny Willet and Patrick Reed both Masters of Augusta champions. The American, who currently plays for LIV Golf, has received an invitation from the sponsors that allows him to play the tournament.
The region where the tournament is held, Emilia-Romagna, suffered catastrophic floods just a year ago that devastated the area with more than twelve thousand people evacuated and several dozen dead. A tragedy from which it is slowly recovering and with events of this magnitude is gradually regaining its smile piano piano (little by little).
