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Golfing in southern Italy
Allan Stitt and Steve Molaski, Mt. Vesuvius in the background.
So I’ve lugged that bag of sticks all over Europe, and now I’m in Southern Italy without a place to play.
I am standing in the shadow of Vesuvius, that colossal volcano that destroyed Pompeii a couple of thousand years ago. Vesuvius lies in a volcanic area near Naples, Italy. The Phlegraen Fields are composed of a large volcanic area west of Naples. There are 24 craters and volcanic edifices, most lying underwater. But there are a few that can be observed in the process of hydrothermal activity in several places. The Solfatura Crater, mythological home of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire, features constant volcanic activity—spewing gas and lava.
The beach at nearby Bacoli was once the home of the Roman military academy. The nearby summer villas of Julius Caesar, Nero the fiddler, and Hadrian the wall builder stood along the shores of the Tyrrhean Sea. The third largest amphitheatre in Italy, the Flavian Amphitheatre, lies in the nearby port of Monte di Procida.
Someone suggests a game of golf in a dormant volcano. Excuse me? Yes, they assure us, in a extinct volcano. Now, having just toured the remains of Pompeii, witnessing the destruction of the entire area, I am contemplating the fact that, before the eruption, Vesuvius was supposed to be dormant. I had visited Mount St. Helens on the West Coast years ago, furthering my view that no volcanoes are ever permanently dormant.
CarneyPark is a military recreational facility located in the permanently dormant volcano Capiglione, located in the Phlegraen Fields near Naples. The park covers almost 100 acres, lying in the crater covering the smouldering mass of lava below the surface.
The area is now a military facility maintained by the United States Department of Defense. Within the crater, surrounding the exquisite nine-hole golf course you will find: an Olympic-sized swimming pool, with necessary water slides, five adult softball fields, baseball fields, soccer pitches, football fields, tennis courts, basketball courts, and a host of other game sites. The mandatory snack bar and restaurant is at your service.
I had to show my passport at the gate, as the area is under the jurisdiction of the American military.
I was accompanied by Lieutenant Colonel Steve Molaski, a member of the Canadian Armed Forces, stationed at the NATO base near Naples. Also playing was Allan Stitt, current Senior Champion at the Bay of Quinte Country Club in Belleville. Both of those men know a thing or two about the game. Stitt was most impressed with the course.
The next day, we climbed Vesuvius in Molaski’s trusty Ford Focus. Amazing geological structures, incredible hospitality.
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