“A good hole is one that poses a question in the player’s mind the moment he gets to the tee to play it.”
– Ross Mackenzie –
Franceschi Golf Design, was born from the union of architects Tommaso and Umberto Franceschi’s strong passion for golf and architecture.
A decade of experience that also boasts collaborations with established professionals and offers a 360-degree solution for the design of golf courses, clubhouses, and related facilities, following the client from the initial stages to implementation.
Our mission is to create golf courses that fit harmoniously into the landscape while respecting the environment, integrating local flora and fauna so that golf becomes an integral part of the land. We strive to blend landscape aesthetics with playability, placing great importance on every detail during all phases leading up to the creation of a golf facility.
Thomas with his competitive amateur background prefers to design technical holes that can give different interpretations of the game depending on whether they want to be played safely or attacked by challenging shots.
Umberto, who has been involved in the world of golf for many years, first as president of the club and not least in his role as a member of the Ryder Cup 2023 organizing committee, brings with him a wealth of experience and know-how that enables him to find the best answers to all kinds of needs.
Thomas Franceschi
Born in Florence on 09/27/1979 to a family of architects
The first contact with golf comes thanks to his parents who in 1985 joined the Tirrenia Golf Club and the passion for this sport was born right away. He began playing early and participating in youth competitions scattered around Italy, after a few victories and good placings he was included in the Brevetti Giovanili (nursery of the national team) but after a year an accident kept him away from the courses for a long time thus failing to be selected for the national team.
Past the age of 18, he was faced with a choice between golf and study and chose study by enrolling in the Faculty of Architecture in Florence.
In 2007 after graduating in Architecture he enters his father’s studio where opportunities to work on golf courses and restyling of existing courses begin, it is at this time that the two great passions Golf and Architecture meet. The skills are recognized and in 2010 also begins a collaboration, which lasts to this day, with Arch. Alvise Rossi Fioravanti and Baldovino Dassù participating in various projects and restyling of courses.
In 2013, he is a design consultant, in collaboration with Dr. Paolo Croce, for the expansion of the Casentino Golf Club from 9 to 18 holes.
In 2014, the first direct assignment to build a new golf facility, The Livorno Golf Club later became the City Golf pilot project.
In 2018 he began a collaboration with Arch. Jeremy Pern.
In 2018, he was appointed by CONI as the Regional Deputy Technician for Sports Facilities.
Since 2018, he has been a lecturer at the National School of Golf with the class “The Architecture of Golf Courses.”
In 2019, he was commissioned by the Italian Golf Federation as a technical consultant.
In 2020, planning begins for the first golf course in Montenegro, the Brskovo Golf Club
In 2022 Technical Economic Feasibility Project for the construction of a 9-hole Golf facility under the PNRR Sport and Social Inclusion on behalf of the Municipality of Grosseto.
In 2023 Executive Design of 6 holes under the NRP for the regeneration and completion to 18 holes of the Golf Club le Miniere located in Cavriglia.
Umberto Franceschi
Umberto Franceschi graduated from Florence University with a degree in architecture with highest honors in 1977 and first approached golf in 1985. His passion for the sport goes beyond the game and he began his involvement in the golf world by first participating in the board of directors of the Cosmopolitan Golf & Country Club in Tirrenia and then serving as president of the same club for two terms and at the same time he joined the board of the Tuscan committee.
His passion for golf, combined with his profession as an architect, led him to further study the design of facilities dedicated to the game of golf and he began designing new courses and restyling existing facilities.
In 2014, he was part of the organizing committee for the Ryder Cup 2022, which resulted in Italy being awarded the world’s most important golf event.
Today he works in the studio with his son Tommaso and collaborates with well-known professionals in the field, Arch. Alvise Rossi Fioravanti, Dr. Paolo Croce and Jeremy Pern
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
ONGOING PROJECTS
COMPLETED PROJECTS
COLLABORATIONS
