Finca Dinca Do

We expect today’s course to be probably the best we will play while in Spain. Finca Cortesin has a fantastic reputation having hosted the Volvo World Match Play three times, and is most well known for hosting the Solheim Cup in 2023………..again designed by that guy Cabell B. Robinson, and again a masterful job.

You can tell from the moment you arrive that everything here will be top shelf…….greetings and directions are crystal clear and just what you would expect. Our tee time is at 12 noon, and we appear to be the first group following the morning member groups……..escorted to the first tee box, we are given final instructions and we are off. This is a bear of a golf course………quite difficult, and plays very long with elevation changes and a constant, I think, pretty strong wind. The young lady who was cleaning my clubs at the end of the round said, “No senor. That was just a mild breeze”. The course is beautifully manicured with barely a blade of grass out of place. I shot 45 on the front, and stopped counting on the back!!! We play this one again in a couple of weeks and I am determined to get some revenge. No time to check out the restaurant after our round as we are booked in old town for dinner……….can’t imagine inside is anything less than fabulous.

Finca Cortesin is the full resort deal that we have been seeing so far on the trip………two hotels onsite, racquet sports, marina, beach club, and polo just down the road. There is construction happening all over the place around here………many single family homes (that are as big as small hotels!) being built, and what looks like more condo development on the hillsides facing part of the course.

So here is a cool thing………Matteo watches us tee off on #1 and says goodbye, but see you soon…….he shows up after #5 and drops a bag in our carts with 2 apples and 2 bananas in each…….. then…………..on #12 he shows up with a vat of gazpacho and serves us all a cup full. It’s the little things, isn’t it!…….makes it all so special, but didn’t help my score one little bit.

So it is old town once again and our favorite location in the middle of it all is Plaza De Las Flores………a central fountain, a small square, surrounded by great restaurants, a beautiful hotel, and a couple of great bars that can actually make you a cocktail. Dinner is at Casa Dona Jeronima…….what do we know?……..absolutely nothing…….just going on instinct, but what a fantastic meal…….we shared a bunch of tapas, then it was seafood paella for the table……too much food……great wine from IZADI, a place Jutta and I visited in Rioja…….once again the end to a perfect day.