Thank you for Visiting Me Groupon Customers!

Thank you for purchasing a Groupon from me for your golfing lesson. We will have a lot of fun, learn even more, and explore the possibilities of your game! 

You can also find me on Linkedin at Jodi Cunningham Golf Instructor and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/jodi.cunningham.54

I look forward to meeting you! 

Come see me and I will show you how to make each stroke count! 

New golfers are joyfully welcome! We have rental Clubs at our course you can use during our lesson! 

Hope to see you on the tee box soon! 

Malaga Spain Golf Trip 2013

I was hoping to blog this trip a little sooner but life just happened. So I am back in the States for a while but first I will post some great photos and encourage all who read this to plan a golfing trip to Malaga, Spain.

The people who I met in Malaga were wonderful in their service and in their speaking of English. What made it even nicer was even though I was in Spain many Dutch holiday there. There were loads of friendly Dutchman near bye willing to help in communicating English and Spanish.

How much fun did I have with my newly met golfing pal who joined me from the Netherlands. The hotel had buy one get one free happy hour every night and we found this to be true when we walked into the lounge to see everyone with two drinks in front of them. Well when in Spain...

Besides the great low cost of our golfing package and the warm efficient service of the Spaniards, I was quite happily surprised by how many cats roam the streets. We ate at a lovely fish place and under our feet were 2 - 4 cats who too were waiting for fish to fall from our table.

About the golf…imagine your favorite golfing course and then imagine it filled with sites of the Mediterranean Sea and steep hillsides. All three courses at La Cala Golf were breathtaking and challenging. Don't worry about taking any balls, people sell bags of balls on the streets and along the course behind the fencing.

Golf of America, Golf of Asia, and Golf of Europa at La Cala Golf were all three a challenge in their own way. I think I liked America the most, followed very closely by Europa and then Asia. I put Asia as a 3^rd favorite just because the day we golfed Asia the course was wet from the weather that day. Asia’s many hidden ups and down made it a challenge to take my club through steep damp lies.

The hillsides of each course had steep ravines that will pull your ball flight in a direction you may not plan for.  Often the fairways are so much lower than the greens that one’s approach shot will only be reached with adding 2 clubs for distance. It doesn't matter if the green travel's right, if there is a near bye ravine on the left, that is the way your ball will travel on the green. The way of the Ravine! 

Here are the links to our trip for you to plan your own. 

http://www.sunsetbeachclub.com/golf-holidays/flexi-golf-packages/flexi-golf-packages-homepage

 http://www.sunsetbeachclub.com/homepage

            Watch out for those wild boars! This muddy photo is their lasting mark in near the T-box....

Simplicity Makes the Human Heart Happy

Croara Country Club Italy

  Simple things make the human heart happy. Simply perfect is the hospitality and professionalism of Andrea Ruggeri who is the professional pro at Croara Country Club. The masculine name Andrea spoken in Italian sounds very different than the spoken feminine name Andrea in English. The “R” is rolled and the “E” sounds silent in the English language. 

The simple email response and invitation to Croara Country Club was greatly appreciated. Andrea professionally promptly replied to my golfing request via email. Considering I've emailed a few golf courses in 3 countries so far in Europe and received little or no response, the simple reply email was very nice. I think the human touch and tradition in Europe is to mainly speak via face to face as the places I've emailed and visited have been very friendly. Andrea even speaks fluent English, the email was not a google translate. 

Andrea Ruggeri Golf Pro at Golf Country Club

The Croara Country Club nestles along side of the Fiume Tribbia River. Around the course and river there are newer homes built. The club was once home to a working village and today that little village is now apartments or “summer villa’s.” 

Fiume Tribbia River

Notice the beautiful manicured landscape.

In the distance an exquisite iron gate.

 Horse stables are now functioning summer villas.

 The practice range with a short game area and separate putting area is nicely set up for members to converse and practice. The holes on the course are lined with disingenuous trees, some evergreens. I would have loved to seen the fall colors there. Some fairways have more tucked and lined in trees than others to make for an interesting and challenging game. If you come from golfing in Fescue grass you will be right at home as the fescue here is not as thick at US fescue but still long enough to make your club tangle itself in the long grass. 

                                          A church with a steeple in the distance.

                                          Yes I said a prayer, it got me a par here.

Lovely Challenge.

Golf Pro Andrea Ruggeria takes great care and pride in helping his members to enjoy the game of golf. He plans and holds many golf tournaments for his members not only at the Croara Country Club but also in other countries as well. The week I was there, Andrea was taking them to Rome for a tournament he organized. Dubia and South Africa are also places Andrea organizes tournaments for his members. That is one great Golf Pro for his members, right!

A simple Italian traditional tasty soup was available in the restaurant which I ordered. It was made up of ravioli looking pasta noodles that were in the shape of Reece's peanut butter cups. (Yes, I'm missing home.) They had cheese and some type of bits of veal, I think? The broth was onion based and served with crusty bread for olive oil and balsamic vinegar dipping. It’s interesting how Europe loves to dip bread in oil and balsamic. This is one tradition I will keep from Europe. Their balsamic is sweeter than I've had in the US. I'd buy a more expensive Italian Balsamic if you wish to try. 

Croara Country Club was one of my favorite places to golf and visit while we were in Italy that week in October. If you decide to fly into Milan and golf, make sure you email Andrea and ask him for any tips to golf, he knows his country's golf courses like his own golf course.

Croara Country Club

http://www.golfcroara.it/

Italy in October

Golf Club Castello La Bastardina

My first Italian golf experience was at

Golf Club Castello La Bastardina in Strada Bastardina, (Piacenza) Italy. It’s only 20 minutes drive from the New Amazon Fulfillment Center in Piacenza, Italy. It reminded me of a Montana golf course that was tucked into farmland between villages. Driving and playing there would prove to be a good adventure.

The global position of Piacenza, Italy is 45.0500º N, 9.7000º E and the global position of the Little Snowy Mountains in Montana is 46.7575º N, 109.1599º W. The similarities of the terrain made me feel quite at home as I spent many summers as a child in this same type of climate in Montana.

Driving the twisting roads to Golf Club Bastardina was a little tricky as the two-lane road in most places was faintly marked and shoulders small. The driving adventure was as much charming as adventurous. Chickens, horses, dogs and farm cats did not notice my lonely rental car passing bye. Contemplating what the hotel clerk told me that I might get lost finding the course I was relieved to see a newly placed golf sign at a “y” in the road. There was even a quaint little church; well I think it was a church? 

Golf Club Bastardina was a friendly open to the public golf club with dinning and a bed and breakfast. It boasted of a Castle with a moat inside of its golf course. The clerk at my hotel also told me the golfing management wanted me to know the course was playable but “under maintained” at the moment. I wondered on that statement?

“Fantastic Fun” would have been a better choice for the clerk at my hotel to tell me. Even with the “under maintained” holes, playing the course was still challenging and enjoyable. The bees and I were the only ones on the course that morning. The hilly holes, twists and turns and variety of holes made for fun play. Wild sage, lavender and mint aromas of the grounds were lovely. I would play and bring my fellow friends to golf at Golf Club Castello La Bastardina in Strada Bastardina.

Narrow Par 3

Par 3 on Top/ Bellow and far Par 4

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Golf-Club-Bastardina/514310115277784