Alameda South

[pappaf2]

Dang it looks really good. Can't wait to get out there and play.

[duffer987]

Photo tour on GCA:

http://www.golfcluba...p?topic=66054.0

Love it; guy never played it before it got refurbed. Calling it a brand new course when they combined 1-2 to make 1 and shoehorned in a new 5th, is a bit of a stretch. Churlish me aside, it's great to see it's finally open! With the drought and coming out of the financial crisis, wasn't sure it'd ever get done, so that's well cool :) Used to drive past all the time on the way to/from Metro/Monarch and Safeway, just staring at vast mounds of dirt/sand.

 

For a muni those bunkers have maintenance nightmare written all over them though. Looks like they took most of those trees between #1/7th green/8th tee. And they covered over the burn that used to run alongside 3 and a few other spots?

 

Be interesting to see if any of the Monarch/Metro/Fry/Chabot leagues/mens clubs move there. $100 is a bit of a mental barrier to pass, with memories of what Jack Clark used to be. But good to see Alameda residents get a deal.

 

Looking forward to some first impressions fellas :)

[BoogieThumper]

They did an awesome job on the course and I had a blast on Sunday. The first hole where they combined the two into the par 5 was a little odd, maybe it was my position off the tee. I was in the right rough under some trees punched out and still had only 8 iron into the green. But like the poster above it's hardly a new course, just a refurb with plenty of new touches. The front plays a lot easier and the back is where it gets serious. The signature hole is going to be #8 and from the blues its a 265 yard par 4 with bunkers everywhere. One of the gentleman I was paired with drove over from Fremont area to play the course, he liked it so much he bought a resident card that gives him the resident rate going forward. Very fun course the greens were pretty slow and I cant wait to get back out there.

[pappaf2]

Photo tour on GCA:

http://www.golfcluba...p?topic=66054.0

Love it; guy never played it before it got refurbed. Calling it a brand new course when they combined 1-2 to make 1 and shoehorned in a new 5th, is a bit of a stretch. Churlish me aside, it's great to see it's finally open! With the drought and coming out of the financial crisis, wasn't sure it'd ever get done, so that's well cool :) Used to drive past all the time on the way to/from Metro/Monarch and Safeway, just staring at vast mounds of dirt/sand.

 

For a muni those bunkers have maintenance nightmare written all over them though. Looks like they took most of those trees between #1/7th green/8th tee. And they covered over the burn that used to run alongside 3 and a few other spots?

 

Be interesting to see if any of the Monarch/Metro/Fry/Chabot leagues/mens clubs move there. $100 is a bit of a mental barrier to pass, with memories of what Jack Clark used to be. But good to see Alameda residents get a deal.

 

Looking forward to some first impressions fellas :)

 

They have an NCGA rate too. Not as good as Alameda but it's something.

[duffer987]

^Oh that's cool!

I always felt apart from Poppy Hills/Ridge and the Pebble Beach specials, the NCGA memberships didn't provide as many golf deals as it could. That's good to hear.

[mholtebeck]

I played it on the 4th of July. All 4 members of our foursome enjoyed the layout, and we have a variety of abilities in our foursome. That speaks to the overall enjoyment.

 

Overall I enjoyed the variety. A couple of holes that play long, but have open areas for a tee shot, and a few areas that are tight, but not excessively long. I really enjoyed the par 3's. A full variety of yardages from a hybrid in a crosswind to two that I played a short iron.

 

Most of all I was pleased that it didn't suffer the typical modern golf design flaw where it's designed for the player who can flight it 240 and they need to have the deep bunker in front of every single green. It makes for a miserable day of looking for golf balls and waiting as the group in front fails to clear the hacks around the green. Side note- why is that considered a good layout nowadays?

 

This course had a lot of sand, but it's placed fairly and there was a safe miss that could still approach the green. it does make for a course that can be scoreable. I could see myself shooting low 70's (10-handicap) on this course, but when the Kikuyu settles in and the rough gets thick- I'm sure it will be plenty challenging. Especially if the afternoon wind is strong. I'm concerned that the maintenance of the bunkers falls flat. It there are clay and not sand- it might be a bit rough.

 

That being said, it's not worth the off the rack rate of $100? for weekend w/cart. I played twilight w/o cart and the cost was $45, and it's a nice $45 golf course.

[lchang]

Looks like they could use something between the Black and Blue tees (maybe some "Blue/Black combo tees")?

 

Black: 6874 yards. 73.2 / 129

Blue: 6303 yards. 70.7 / 124

[ihatecats18]

Checked the course out and it was flatter than I thought it would be. Also plays much shorter, very little need for driver. All in all a good course, maybe 30 too many dollars, but Bay prices are nuts

[lchang]

Checked the course out and it was flatter than I thought it would be. Also plays much shorter, very little need for driver. All in all a good course, maybe 30 too many dollars, but Bay prices are nuts

 

Interesting. I used driver a lot. As did everyone in my group—including two pretty long hitters. (We played from the black tees.)

[mholtebeck]

Checked the course out and it was flatter than I thought it would be. Also plays much shorter, very little need for driver. All in all a good course, maybe 30 too many dollars, but Bay prices are nuts

 

Interesting. I used driver a lot. As did everyone in my group—including two pretty long hitters. (We played from the black tees.)

 

I used my driver on all but a few of the par 4's and all par 5's. But I agree that it plays shorter than yardage, and with the bunkering- I can see using hybrids and 3-woods off the tee and still have a mid-iron in. You have to be aware of the wind. Most holes run parallel to the bay, so they are mostly a crosswind.

 

There was a joke going around that the mounds at course might be the highest point in Alameda. I believe the actual high point of the city is the large mound on the north end of Bay Farm Island, but the course is essentially right by the Oakland Airport

[pappaf2]

I finally got out to play the south course. I liked the course a lot. Greens are firm and fast with tons of undulations. I think they did a great job transforming the course. The course is a little too pricey as a non Alameda resident but I will certainly be coming back to play more.

[jysh17]

I heard there is the possibility that a PGA tour event ends up there. Will have to see if it happens.

 

https://www.sfgate.com/sports/golf/article/PGA-Tour-visits-Alameda-course-eyes-Steph-13299592.php

[duffer987]

I heard there is the possibility that a PGA tour event ends up there. Will have to see if it happens.

 

https://www.sfgate.c...ph-13299592.php

 

Interesting. Surely Kaiser would be the "East Bay company" to pair up with Steph.

That would be super cool to see an event out there.

[lchang]

I heard there is the possibility that a PGA tour event ends up there. Will have to see if it happens.

 

https://www.sfgate.c...ph-13299592.php

 

Interesting. Surely Kaiser would be the "East Bay company" to pair up with Steph.

That would be super cool to see an event out there.

 

Would those be the worst locker rooms the PGA Tour pros ever had to use?! :dntknw: :dntknw:

[duffer987]

I heard there is the possibility that a PGA tour event ends up there. Will have to see if it happens.

 

https://www.sfgate.c...ph-13299592.php

 

Interesting. Surely Kaiser would be the "East Bay company" to pair up with Steph.

That would be super cool to see an event out there.

 

Would those be the worst locker rooms the PGA Tour pros ever had to use?! :dntknw: :dntknw:

LOLOL! They'd definitely want to go over it with a lick of paint and some of those plugin air fresheners, that'd totally work. I still wouldn't like their chances of keeping the paper towel machine working.

Actually, maybe they'll just shuttle them across from the Raiders facility?

[jysh17]

They made a joke about this on the radio, where I originally heard about this, they said usually though they build locker rooms for tour events.

[pappaf2]

One thing I wonder about is what they would do to setup/stretch the course out for the PGA tour? Right now the scorecard shows it as just under 6900 from the back tees on the scorecard. There really isn't any room to add more tee boxes. They can probably just get the course to about 7000 yards if they push the markers to the very back of each tee box. My initial thought is that one or two of the Par 5's would be played as Par 4's for the big boys, with #1 and #15 being the likely candidates. So you'd be looking at a ~7000 yard par 70 or 71. Not too far off Harbor Town in terms of yardage but polar opposite in setup and play.

 

Also this quote about the private course they spoke with. I would assume that would the Cal Club being that Curry is a member there.

 

Tour officials also held talks with at least one private Bay Area club, but that course is “highly unlikely” to host the new event, one source said.

[pappaf2]

One thing I wonder about is what they would do to setup/stretch the course out for the PGA tour? Right now the scorecard shows it as just under 6900 from the back tees on the scorecard. There really isn't any room to add more tee boxes. They can probably just get the course to about 7000 yards if they push the markers to the very back of each tee box. My initial thought is that one or two of the Par 5's would be played as Par 4's for the big boys, with #1 and #15 being the likely candidates. So you'd be looking at a ~7000 yard par 70 or 71. Not too far off Harbor Town in terms of yardage but polar opposite in setup and play.

 

Also this quote about the private course they spoke with. I would assume that would the Cal Club being that Curry is a member there.

 

Tour officials also held talks with at least one private Bay Area club, but that course is “highly unlikely” to host the new event, one source said.

 

Sounds like the Tour has chosen to host this event at Lake Merced Golf Club and not Corica Park

https://golfweek.com...merced-as-host/

 

What a joke, they are planning on building a new 10th hole and other alterations between the LPGA event held there in May and the Tour being there in September. What could possibly go wrong.

[duke2001j]

Finally got a chance to play the new South Course yesterday @ Corica Park and I was really impressed. The greens are pure - probably the best public greens in the Bay Area - better/faster than most of the privates or destination courses I’ve played. And the fairways/rough are high quality and interesting.

 

It’s a really interesting course too - lots of variety - I hit every club in the bag which is always a great barometer. We’ve had a lot of rain in NorCal the last few weeks, and the course seems to drain really well - it was still relatively firm even with the rain. You had to allow for some release on the greens - the ball just won’t hit & stop unless you have a wedge.

 

If I lived closer, I’d play here every week, no question. Reasonably priced for NCGA members and is a steal for Alameda residents. Every part of the country should have a muni of this caliber. Probably in the top 3 munis I’ve played, next to Torrey Pines and Bethpage Black. Will be interesting to see how the course ages, and if it continues to be maintained as well as it is now - always a challenge with munis but I’m optimistic.

[CenCalGolfer]

I am planning on playing out here in a couple weeks. Hoping the weather gets better, but hearing that it drains well is a great thing to hear!. Looking forward to playing the course after seeing the pictures and the comments!

[tmgolf25]

I'll be there on the 22nd. Can't wait!

[duffer987]

Got out there on Monday. 50 minute frost delay, so it was a big queue and then sending them off as quick as possible, so actually surprised we got around in 4.5hrs in that situation, as about the 15th tee time of the day.

With the weather the past few weeks, thank God they've got that layer of sand underneath now. Was mucky in spots but surprisingly dry considering. Reminded me of Poppy after they reopened: firm unreceptive greens and grabby apron grass, no biggy on approaches, but means the fun around the greens they've designed in are a couple years away from really working as planned.

 

Have to say though initial impressions are very positive, from what I remember of the old course - which has been many years now - 2, 3, 4 is a much much improved stretch, as is 10, 11, 12, but obviously overall it's definitely better. Couple reachable holes (8 and 15) to offset some longer ones, par 3s still only point two directions, but they are much improved over the old ones, where really 11 was the only interesting one.

I like the laid off bunkers (ie. actually being 15-20 yards short of the green) and the overall look of the place, that is reflected in the movement of the holes that was absent in the previous incarnation. NCGA rate is decent, so look forward to going back soon.

[Shakester]

I finally got to play the South Course and it was awesome. I loved it. Reminds me of Bayland Links but with more challenge. The only thing that I didn't like were the pin positions the day I played. They had a few set right on a crest that it was near impossible to get it close if you missed. I had a buddy, who is a really good putter, putt one from about 3 feet, just hit it a tad too high, went over the cup and ended up 15 feet passed the hole. There were a few holes like that and for those who have played that course know there are plenty of double tiered and undulating greens. Didn't help that the greens were near an 11 that day, according to the starter and I think he was right. I never 3 putted so many holes in my life. LOL. Just couldn't get the speed down. I had three birdies that round and a bunch of pars and still shot an 85. Birdie putts became bogies. Pars becomes doubles. We played the blues tees but we could have easily played the back.

[duffer987]

If they ran those at 11 for daily play everyone would have 40 putts ;)

Been out there a handful of times now and really enjoy it. After the bedding in period is done and the aprons blend into the greens better it will be really fun within 50yds.

They might get them to 11 the next two weeks to keep the scores from getting too low at The Commuters. 1/2 tempted to pop bye to see how the college kids take to it.

[duffer987]

Played yesterday afternoon - after they started letting the public out after the Commuters (funnily enough as they sent us off the 10th, we caught up with the final group of the tourney on 16) - and it was really fun to play those pin placements and with the greens running as nicely as they do. They had some spots I doubt they ever use for daily play, it was really cool.

Over and above that I'm more impressed with the course after each play; I do think it's the "best" fully public option along the coast between Monterey and Bandon.

[Shakester]

I usually play from the blue tees anywhere I play. Its that happy medium for me. Not too long, not too short. I played the blues at the South Course and probably could have played the black. I'll be teeing it up there again this weekend.