Projects
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8/28/2023
A SPA centre the size of a city
Important upgrading work at Golf Club Fiuggi 1928 as part of an ambitious project involving the spa, tourism and sport sectors
Mapesoil technology was used for the redevelopment of the Fiuggi Golf Club, set in a lush naturalistic landscape.
Since ancient times man has studied the benefits and potential regenerative effects of water and, over time, it has become a genuine means of therapy. The physical-chemical characteristics of water, its temperatures and its “vortex effect” were already used to treat numerous pathologies by the ancient Romans in spa centres (salus per aquam or health through water): buildings used for public baths – taking inspiration from Greek gymnasiums – were meeting and educational places.
The spa centres of ancient Rome combined these two traditions and acted as centres for personal hygiene and as places dedicated to the wellbeing of the mind. So, not just simple public baths, but also places of culture, enjoyment and social aggregation. And this is why Roman spa baths were often embellished with mosaics and decorations, and even more, such as gymnasiums, libraries, rooms, porticoes, fountains, shaded gardens, paths to take walks and even areas of land for ball games.
But not even the Romans ever thought about transforming a spa into an entire city. And that is precisely what is happening in the city of Fiuggi in Central Italy. Surrounded by unspoiled nature offering numerous opportunities for lovers of trekking, hiking and the outdoors in general, Fiuggi, a renowned spa town known all around the world for its curative waters and natural beauty, over the years has also been a historic destination for lovers of golf. Situated in the Comino Valley in the Central Apennine Mountains, apart from being renowned for its cultural heritage with an artistic and historic patrimony of immense value, the town is one of the very first examples of how the love of golf can be combined with a passion for nature and spa treatments.
Golf Club Fiuggi
It was with this in mind that Fiuggi Golf Club opened almost a century ago, one of the most prestigious and picturesque golf courses in the whole of central Italy. Its highly privileged location, at the foot of the Ernici Mountains and just a short distance from the town of the same name, makes it the ideal place for the lovers of sport, relaxation and nature. And it is with the rediscovery of these ancient traditions that Fiuggi City Council is now looking to turn a page with a new, ambitious project that will involve the entire economic fabric of the town and called, not by accident, “Salus per Aquam”. The guidelines of the project will have the production of the town’s famous water as the focus, but there will also be significant investments to relaunch the entire spa sector, which will then have to interact with other strategic assets such as the health and wellbeing sectors, and also, and above all, a combination of tourism and sport.
Golf Club Fiuggi 1928, Fiuggi (Italy)
Upgrading the golf course
And it is precisely from here that a virtuous relaunch journey for the town has been initiated and the green light has been given for important redevelopment work on the historic course of Golf Club Fiuggi 1928: one of the oldest courses in the country and also, with 18 holes, one of the most important of Italy if we consider that, over the years, it has hosted famous golfers, politicians and actors, as well as famous footballers and enthusiasts of golf, such as Diego Armando Maradona.
The golf course in the town of Fiuggi underwent important upgrading work on the surfaces of the bunkers, those sand-filled depressions dotted around the course to create obstacles during play. Apart from being areas every golfer would rather avoid (a golf ball in a bunker means players have to step into the unknown), they are also a problem for those who have to guarantee the efficiency of a golf course, in that the rain leaches away the sand from bunkers, leading to its costly replenishment.
Mapei Research & Development laboratories have developed a system to improve the efficiency of drainage systems for bunkers based on MAPESOIL GF technology, specifically designed to increase the speed at which water is drained off from surfaces. Thanks to its high drainage capacity the system helps maintain the characteristics of the sand – to prevent it being leached away by rainwater – and, as a result, reduces a golf club’s maintenance costs. With this system a highly permeable layer is applied over the entire surface of the bunker, consisting of a mixture of gravel and MAPESOIL GF high-performance cementitious binder with a low carbon footprint and high drainage capacity, which improves the ground’s volumetric stability, mechanical properties and durability.
Mapesoil technology for bunker drainage systems enables water to be channelled away from surfaces more quickly.
Mapesoil GF technology
The installation of MAPESOIL GF technology enables rainwater to be collected, which can then be used to water the greens. Indeed, MAPESOIL GF encourages more integrated and effective management of water resources within golf clubs, a crucial objective to help reduce consumption of natural water (it would be wasteful to use Fiuggi low-mineral water to water the greens!), particularly when having to face recurring periods of drought due to the effect of climate change.
Also, MAPESOIL GF does not contain substances that could potentially pollute the water that drains off and this aspect – apart from its excellent mechanical characteristics, such as high drainage capacity to prevent puddles forming in the event of violent rainstorms, which are now all too frequent on the Italian peninsula due to the effects of climate change – is extremely important to prevent the rainwater filtering through the pores in the MAPESOIL GF screed from permeating into the ground and polluting the sources of the renowned, low-mineral water famous all over the world for treating kidney stones.
All in all, MAPESOIL GF is the solution that associates technical characteristics (volumetric stability, drainage capacity, mechanical characteristics, durability and low maintenance costs) with environmental sustainability to safeguard the immense and all-important aquifer of the city of Fiuggi.
Italy is making preparations to host the Ryder Cup 2023, which will be played for the first time in Italy from 25th September to 1st October at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club on the outskirts of Rome.
Our country’s interest in golf is growing and MAPESOIL GF, which has also been used with great success at the Montecchia Golf Club (Padua), is the solution that combines technical characteristics (volumetric stability, drainage capacity, mechanical properties, durability and lower maintenance costs) and environmental sustainability.
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