Verdura Resort: Links

Creating diversity and different golf experiences is the key to making multi-course resorts like Bandon Dunes, Casa de Campo or Te Arai in New Zealand attractive to repeat play—the merits of the courses become objects of debate because the land and architecture of each are unique, the menu complex. American architect Kyle Phillips achieved this at Verdura, set on the southern coast of Sicily, where his Links Course (formerly called the East Course) shows a distinctly different look and playability than the Shore Course. The Links is longer but more exacting with slender fairways and smaller greens. While it lacks the ocean crescendo of the Shore Course, Phillips managed to get holes from each nine out to the beaches with a series of gorgeous greens set against the Mediterranean waters.