Itanhangá: the oldest golf course in Rio is among the 10 best in Brazil.

by Antonella Kann

Are you into golf? Thought so. And guess what, even if you are just visiting Rio for a few days you can actually enjoy playing, as Itanhangá Golf Club, although being a private club only reserved for members, actually welcomes outside guests from selected hotels in town. You may check ahead for the reserved schedules, green fees and participating hotels on www.itanhanga.com.br

In July, Itanhangá Golf Club will be celebrating 75 years of existence, as it opened to the public in 1935 , two years after its construction began in Barra da Tijuca.

At that time, it was one of the most remote areas in town, with Ipanema as the last inhabited neighbourhood. There was no tunnel connecting any place to the Barra. And, remember, Rio was still the capital of Brazil.

Nowadays, Itanhangá´s magnificent 18 holes circuit is still preserved in an extraordinary lush green valley with plenty of trees. Players can spot araras, monkeys, toucans, flamingos and all sorts of birds along the almost 100 acres of terrain.

This golf course was considered by Exame magazine as one of the 10 best in Brazil and the high end publication Golf Digest rated it among the 100 best worldwide.

It´s 18th hole is considered to be one of the most difficult in the world, a challenge to the best players, even though the course is appropriated to anyone with a handicap 25 or less. Higher handicaps will find the course somehow harder, but worth the try.

Golf widows can enjoy the attractive clubhouse, with its restaurant, the pool and the quiet environment, only a mere half-hour from the busy Leblon and Ipanema hubs- traffic permitting, of course.

Estrada da Barra da Tijuca, 2005
Tel. 55 21 2494 2507