Corica Park's North Course opened in 1927 as an Alameda municipal layout designed by William Park Bell, the prolific California architect behind dozens of West Coast courses in the early 20th century. For nearly a century it operated as part of the Alameda municipal complex on the island city's bayfront, serving generations of Bay Area golfers, including the late teaching pro Lucius Bateman, who mentored 1964 Open Champion Tony Lema and countless local juniors here.

On the course

The modern North Course is the product of a decade-long, two-architect renovation. Australian agronomist and designer Marc Logan began the project in the late 2010s, opening a front nine in 2020 that drew attention for its firm-and-fast turf and revetted sod-wall bunkers. After construction stalled, Robert Trent Jones II Golf Course Architects took over in 2023, completing the back nine and refining Logan's front nine. All 18 holes reopened in March 2025, making Corica Park the only municipal facility in the world with adjacent courses by brothers Rees Jones (the 2018 South Course) and Robert Trent Jones Jr.

Who it suits

The redesigned layout plays as a ground-game, links-influenced par 70. The site was originally pancake-flat with barely two feet of elevation change, so 15,000 truckloads of sand from San Francisco construction projects were used to sandcap the fairways six to twelve inches deep. Bunker revetts were built from sod salvaged from the Oakland Coliseum, and the cart paths are lined with roughly 125 tons of recycled walnut shells. The drivable par-4 8th stretches to 283 yards from the tips, and the short par-4 15th features a Principal's Nose-style center bunker inspired by the 16th at the Old Course at St. Andrews.

It suits players who enjoy strategy over length, ground-game approaches, and walkable municipal golf at a public price.

Architect: William P. Bell / Robert Trent Jones II · Opened: 1927