Corica Park Golf Course (North)

The North Course at Corica Park is an 18-hole municipal layout in Alameda, California, in the heart of the San Francisco Bay Area. Reimagined by the internationally acclaimed firm Robert Trent Jones II and reopened in 2025, the North blends Scottish links inspiration with modern, sustainable design. Firm, fast fairways, ground-game strategy, and revetted sod-wall bunkers make it a distinctive and affordable public golf experience. It sits alongside the Rees Jones-designed South Course, giving Corica Park a rare pairing of courses from both Jones brothers at a single municipal facility.

Quick Facts

Course History

Golf has been played on the Corica Park grounds in Alameda for close to a century, with the municipal facility's roots dating back to 1927. Long known as one of the Bay Area's most popular public golf destinations, the complex began a comprehensive modernization under operator Greenway Golf, first delivering an acclaimed remodel of the South Course, which reopened in 2018.

Attention then turned to the North Course, which Greenway Golf partnered with Robert Trent Jones II to fully renovate and complete. Following an extensive rebuild, the reimagined North Course reopened to the public in the spring of 2025, marking the first time the two Jones brothers have adjacent courses at a single municipal facility.

The Design & Architecture

Robert Trent Jones II and lead architect Mike Gorman drew heavy inspiration from Scottish links golf, designing the North to be played on the ground and under the wind. Wavy, contoured fairways and greens act as strategic hazards in their own right, while revetted sod-wall bunkers add classic links character. The course is sandcapped six to twelve inches deep for firm, fast, well-draining turf, and was built with sustainability in mind, using drought-tolerant Santa Ana Bermuda Hybrid grass and reclaimed materials throughout.

Signature Holes

The North announces its character immediately. The opening hole is a short par 4 whose fairway tightens in the most popular landing zone, with two pot bunkers guarding the green — the course itself calls it simple yet penal, and par can slip to bogey with one careless swing. On the back nine, water dominates the 11th to the point that early reviewers judged a bogey there a good score, while the short par-4 12th and the drivable par-4 15th — reworked from the old 5th hole — offer the layout's most tempting risk-reward decisions.

The par 3s show off the links styling best. The 13th plays only about 140 yards but is lined with pot bunkers short of the green, so anything coming up short is punished, and the 200-yard 17th typically plays into the Bay breeze yet will accept a well-struck low runner bumped up onto the putting surface — exactly the ground-game shot the architects designed the course around.

Playing the Course

Playing to 6,339 yards with a par of 71, the North rewards creativity and the ground game rather than pure length, making it enjoyable and accessible for players of all skill levels. Firm turf lets golfers run the ball into greens, and the ground-contour design invites bump-and-run shots. A course rating of 70.4 and slope of 121 reflect a fair but engaging test, and the walkable, links-style layout encourages strolling the fairways as the design intends.

Know Before You Go

• This is a public, municipal course; tee times can be booked online through the Corica Park website.

• A practice facility and driving range are available on site to warm up before your round.

• The links-style, ground-game design favors a low, running approach, so plan to keep the ball under the Bay Area wind.

• Located at 1 Clubhouse Memorial Rd, Alameda, CA 94502; call (510) 747-7800 for more information.