A new home for top golfers
Ticino is now home to Switzerland’s only national training centre for elite golfers. Swiss Golf has chosen Golf Gerre Losone as its base and will also make use of the services offered by the CST. This strategic partnership benefits from the close proximity of the two facilities and will provide members of the national squads with optimal training conditions.
The partnership between Swiss Golf, Golf Gerre Losone and the CST is based on a shared vision: to offer athletes ideal conditions for their development, both on and off the course. The proximity of the CST makes it possible to combine training on the golf course with theoretical sessions and complementary training activities. The short distance between Losone and Tenero also represents an important logistical advantage, allowing several days of activities to be concentrated in the same area and thereby reducing travel time and optimising schedules. The partnership will also lead to workshops and activities for all golf enthusiasts.
A strategic and long-term partnership
For Barbara Albisetti-Heath, Director of Sport at Swiss Golf, the partnership with Golf Gerre Losone in its role as the Swiss Golf Performance Center represents a key strategic pillar in the development of the country’s top golfers. The federation’s aim is to broaden its talent base and support athletes on their path towards international excellence. To achieve this goal, Swiss Golf is also seeking to establish a long-term partnership with the CST.
Within this framework, Swiss Golf’s young talents have the opportunity to develop thanks to the excellent facilities at the golf centre in Losone and the dynamic sporting environment in Tenero. For young golfers, training alongside athletes from other disciplines is a valuable source of motivation and enriches both their personal and competitive development.
Swiss Golf hopes that the members of Golf Gerre Losone will take pride in welcoming the country’s top talents to their course. The partnership also benefits the club through seminars led by coaches and experts, such as the recent successful session on nutrition held in Losone.
A natural choice
The characteristics of Golf Gerre, now Switzerland’s only national training centre, made it an almost natural choice for Swiss Golf. Open all year round, the facility benefits from favourable weather conditions and takes a dynamic, innovative approach with a particular focus on younger generations.
“Being selected as the home of the Swiss Golf National Training Centre is an important recognition for us, but also a major responsibility,” says Director Ennio Losa. “Our goal is to provide elite athletes with a highly professional environment, supported by facilities and training conditions that meet the demands of modern golf. The proximity of the CST further strengthens the project, making it possible to combine technical and athletic preparation and to contribute directly to the development of the country’s top talents.”
From past to present
This type of collaboration is not new to the CST. As sports coordinator Luca Tavoli recalls, between 2014 and 2019 our centre had already established a partnership with Swiss Golf and other sports federations through a training programme built around three pillars: residential accommodation at the CST, an upper-secondary school programme adapted to student athletes at Liceo di Locarno, and training sessions at Golf Gerre Losone and Golf Club Patriziale Ascona.
Five golfers completed the programme, including Chiara Tamburlini, who made her debut this year on the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour, the leading women’s professional golf circuit in the United States. The CST acted as a bridge between the sports federations and the school, organising key aspects of the elite athletes’ daily lives, including transport, meals and accommodation.
Text: Martina Ponti
Photos: Charlène Mamie