An official announcement from Walter Veltroni, Romes mayor, and Franco Chimenti, the Italian Golf Federations president, has confirmed the already much talked-about project for the construction of Romes first public golf course. The 90 hectare area ear-marked for the 18 hole championship facility is at Ponte Galeria on the Rome-Fiumicino motorway, in proximity to the new site of the Fiera di Roma.

Funds for the project are to be drawn from the coffers of the Federgolf , which will own and manage the course, while the municipal authorities will concede use of the land which lies within the environmentally-controlled Parco del Tevere. Bureaucratic loose ends have yet to be tied up, but given Veltronis backing, difficulties probably wont arise.

Design plans for the 7,000 metre course, one of the longest in Italy, have already been drawn up by Roman golf architect, David Mezzacane, whose signature appears on Laura Biagiottis Marco Simone golf course, Le Querce near Viterbo and many others.

Completion of the course, which has yet to find a name, is promised for the end of 2008. The facility will not only provide the amenities of a public golf course, where players may get in a round for the simple payment of a green fee, but also that of a public park provided with specific pathways for non-golf players.