- Verdura Resort in Sicily will host and sponsor Golf for Autism from November 13-15.
- Eighteen young golfers with autism spectrum disorder will take part in four coached sessions.
- Verdura’s golf facilities will be open year-round from this season.
Eighteen children and young people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) will travel to Verdura Resort on Sicily’s southwest coast next week for Golf for Autism, a three-day event that treats the game as both an inclusive sport and a therapeutic tool.
The Rocco Forte property is hosting and sponsoring the weekend, from November 13-15, which is organised by the International Golfing Fellowship of Rotarians Italia. Participants come from the regions of Italy where the Golf4Autism project is currently active, and each will be accompanied by parents, instructors and support staff.
The event builds on several years of work between Verdura and Dr Filippo Alessi, through which children with autism have been playing golf at the resort on dedicated programmes.
How the weekend works
The programme runs across four sessions: Friday afternoon, Saturday morning and afternoon, and Sunday morning. Coaches and organisers will use them to compare teaching methods, assess how golf affects the participants’ social skills and see whether playing alongside one another helps the young golfers improve.
The organisers point to features of the game that suit children with autism. Players move at their own pace, with no clock and little pressure. Every shot is played individually, so time with others happens naturally rather than relying on complex conversation. The routine of setting up and hitting a shot is the same each time, a predictable structure that can ease anxiety, while the open, quiet space of a course aids concentration and offers a calm sensory experience.
“Bringing young people together from different parts of Italy lets us compare how they are taught and how they progress,” said Dr Alessi. “What we learn will help more clubs open their doors to children with autism.”
Parents and siblings are encouraged to join in, spending time together and seeing each child’s progress for themselves.
Donato Di Ponziano, golf development supervisor for Rocco Forte Hotels, said the initiative has become one of the most rewarding things the resort does.
“The game asks for patience and attention rather than speed, and the way the children respond to it has been remarkable,” he said.
Golf through the winter
The event coincides with confirmation that Verdura’s golf will now be open all year. Last winter the resort opened its golf facilities at weekends for the first time; from this season golfers can play throughout the year, with the Clubhouse Lounge also staying open for the 2026/27 winter. The championship courses, pro shop and private or group lessons with Verdura’s coaches will all be available.
The resort has two 18-hole layouts, East Links and West Shore, plus a nine-hole par-three course, all designed by Kyle Phillips. They are backed by a golf academy and Italy’s only European Tour-approved Performance Institute, and Verdura added the Simon Holmes Academy to its coaching offer this summer. In September it staged the inaugural Sir Rocco Forte Captain’s Trophy across both championship courses.
Verdura was named Europe’s Best Golf Hotel at the 2025 World Golf Awards and features among the World’s Top 100 Golf Resorts 2026. Off the course, it has seven restaurants, four bars, the 4,000m² Irene Forte Spa and 1.8km of private coastline.
For more information on Verdura Resort, click HERE.
Related: Verdura Resort launches Simon Holmes Academy in Sicily
Simon Bale
Simon Bale is the publisher of Golf Today. A low single-figure handicap golfer, he was previously a major shareholder and course reviewer for Top100GolfCourses.com for over a decade, starting in 2010. Through this role, he developed extensive knowledge of golf course design and architecture while playing more than 300 courses worldwide.