Franco Piras , aged 41, has been a player on the golfing scene for the last 30 years. As a scratch golfer he was a leading player in Italy in the 1980s winning around 10 trophies in various Italian National Championships and playing for the Italian National team. He also competed in numerous international tournaments amongst which the European Junior Championship and the World University Championship. More recently, Franco was part of the winning team in the Italian Pitch & Putt Championship and played in the Italian team in the 2003 European Pitch & Putt Championship. Franco is president of the Mirasole Golf Club and is a member of the New Courses Committee of the Italian Golf Federation.
In 1989 the Le Rovedine Golf Club was taken over by the Piras family and Franco was nominated the club’s Executive Director. The ensuing ten years of planning and managing the restructuring, the lengthening and the restyling of the Le Rovedine course were the practical laboratories and workshops in forging Franco’s professional experience. In this formative period Franco implemented the addition of nine new holes under the guidance of Giulio Cavalsani, who was responsible for the design. After experience acquired in the construction, maintenance, management and promotion sectors and through working on the course and after graduating from Milan University, Franco completed his studies of technical design and golf course architecture. He subsequently handled the restyling of the existing Le Rovedine layout and the construction of nine further Pitch & Putt holes.
In 1995 Franco organised the 52nd Italian International Open at Le Rovedine, which was won by Scotsman Sam Torrance. This was followed by a period of development of the sporting events sector in which he organised golf tournaments and special events for important companies like Alitalia, Swissair, Hertz, Walt Disney, Sap, Eni and Montedison. In 2000 Franco again managed the Italian International Open at Is Molas in Sardinia.
From 1995 Franco has been the CEO of GolfVacanze, the company that was founded in 1990 to handle the construction and management of the Le Rovedine Golf Club and which in the ensuing years has evolved into a group that provides consultancy and services, bringing together the vast experience of its founding members and creating partnerships with leading worldwide organizations in the golfing sector, and which has now become a company with the capability of taking on all aspects of management consultancy and feasibility studies. Of particular note it is worth mentioning the study contract won by GolfVacanze in 2000, in a public tender organized by the Sicilian Region, for the construction of a golf and tourism circuit of 8 courses in eastern Sicily with corresponding public infrastructure.
In 1998 Franco received several important assignments: the contract for a new layout at Villa Paradiso, which opened for play in 2002, and the contract for 36 new holes at Is Molas of which nine were opened for play in 2001 and the remainder are in the final stages of completion. Further design assignments followed these projects: Cagliari Calcio, Sa Tanca, Cesinali and Il Golfino are all already finished and the more recent contracts for the 36 holes at Donnafugata in Sicily and the 18 holes at Chia Laguna in Sardinia are in the initial stages of construction. Franco has also received assignments for the planning of the reconstruction of the Villa D’Este, San Michele and Des Iles Borromees courses and has implemented numerous Master Plans for the development of new golf layouts amongst which SanVenanzo Imperia, Tanka Village and Maratea. Thanks to his internationally recognized design capabilities Franco has received the accolade from Gary Player of representing Gary Player Design in Italy and the Mediterranean region.
From 2003 Franco has been a member of the Italian Golf Course Architects Association.