Golf Club Biella

Overview: Golf Club Biella, also known as Le Betulle, is an 18-hole parkland course on the Serra morainic ridge near Magnano in Piemonte. John Morrison's routing uses rolling ground, open meadow and dense stands of mature birch and beech, so the holes alternate between broad views and enclosed woodland. The course references list par 73 and a length around 6,900 yards, while the club's published material gives 6,497 metres from the full tees, approximately 7,107 yards. The interest lies in how the land supplies the movement: elevation, changing lies and tree lines shape the strategy without relying on theatrical construction.

History: Biella's founders formed the association in 1956 after assembling more than 70 hectares from around 170 landowners. Morrison began construction in October 1957 and directed the work until illness stopped him in 1960. Donald Harradine then handled completion of tees, fairways and putting surfaces, while John Dering Harris redesigned several putting surfaces and advised on improvements in 1967. The club history records a course that grew through collaboration while retaining Morrison's original response to the Serra landscape.

Did You Know? The course's name, Le Betulle, refers to the birch trees that frame the property. The official course description singles out the third hole as the toughest-rated hole and the 16th as the high point of the course, where the elevated ground opens a view toward the Pre-Alps. Those two holes capture the contrast between Biella's strategic difficulty and its expansive setting.