Walked 18 holes at Corica today. The front 9 played great. Plenty of birdie opportunities with reachable greens made for a great front. Missing the fairway wasn't the biggest deal either, with great l... Continue »

Walked 18 holes at Corica today. The front 9 played great. Plenty of birdie opportunities with reachable greens made for a great front. Missing the fairway wasn't the biggest deal either, with great lies in the rough making for some great approach shots. The greens were cut well and were not surprising as far as speed or weird breaks.

The back 9 of the course was vastly different. The fairways were cut really short and the ground was hard, making for tougher shots with irons (I tend to take a bigger divot, so this made my back 9 a little harder). The greens were also sanded down so much that I felt like I was putting in the bunker. However, my favorite hole of the round was 13 - a 403 par 4 that was very reachable in two and set up a great uphill birdie chance. Unfortunately for me, the sandy green turned a birdie chance into a bogey.

Ugh! I was contemplating writing a one word review but I decided to temper it with some possible explanations. Did you see the 49ers play the Packers at Lambeau Field yesterday? Well, the fairways ... Continue »

Ugh! I was contemplating writing a one word review but I decided to temper it with some possible explanations. Did you see the 49ers play the Packers at Lambeau Field yesterday? Well, the fairways and tee boxes were not even close. Except for the greens, the grass was DEAD! Before we began playing, my friend said even though it was dead, it was still playable. Maybe it was, but it was not enjoyable. We are guessing the frost a couple of weeks ago killed it. Perhaps, but Metropolitan, a couple of exits south, was in very decent shape so why was it so bad here? As a non-resident, my $50 is better spent elsewhere. We picked Alameda because it's fairly close to San Francisco and we wanted to make it home for the playoffs. Oh, there is something to praise. The on course restaurant, Jim's, has a sports bar too so you can get a decent bite to eat and watch the games on several monitors. Better yet, the waitresses were hot!! Go Niners!

Played Sunday, Nov 11, north course which is right now in better shape than the south. They are planning on reconstructing nine holes of the south course sometime in the next year. The new owners in... Continue »

Played Sunday, Nov 11, north course which is right now in better shape than the south. They are planning on reconstructing nine holes of the south course sometime in the next year. The new owners invested about $3million of their own money into the driving range which is really nice now. All grass with many flags at different yardages. There are mats but it looks like there is a grass area that can be used to hit from maybe in the future. I cut my teeth on these two courses many years ago so I am very partial to this complex. It is 25 minutes from where I live in San Francisco, the weather is tons nicer than SF, there are two courses to choose from, Jim's is great for breakfast and for a drink and snacks while watching the games afterward. So once they get the courses in shape and remodel the clubhouse, this would be home base for me again. Right now, the north course is in fair shape. $40 to walk and this is a nice course to walk. Maybe short for many but a fun course with water hazards and many old trees to contend with. But once the south course get refurbished, it'll be the one to play as it's layout is much more challenging in length and layout. The grass is pretty much a garden salad with some mean-ass bermuda grass near the greens so follow through! Golfers here are courteous and friendly as is the staff.

9/24/2013

Played today for the first time in about 8 years. Noticed they have completely redone the driving range. It's beautiful (and I'm a range snob). (don't believe they offer hitting off grass... Continue »

9/24/2013

Played today for the first time in about 8 years. Noticed they have completely redone the driving range. It's beautiful (and I'm a range snob). (don't believe they offer hitting off grass but hey the mats were level and new)

The course is in good condition. Tee boxes are all pretty level and divot free. Even the traps were above par in my book. The greens were VERY soft. Despite this and the amount of play this course gets, they ran VERY true and smooth, no complaints. The wind gets up abit in the afternoons but the course itself plays short so only crosswinds on approach shots had much affect on play or fun.

The course is tree lined with many doglegs. There are some holes with water in play. Playing from the back tee's the course is short but surprisingly it makes you think alot. It's definitely not a cookiecutter course where all the holes look alike. With all the doglegs and direction changes it keeps your interest from 1 to 18 easily. Your gonna need a draw and a fade to get around the way it's intended but d%mn it's fun!

There is only 1 drawback to this course. The fairways and areas around all greens have been overrun by crabgrass. From the fairway it doesn't have much affect. Chipping around greens however is tricky as hell. The closely mown areas remind me very much of astroturf and the longer rough can be really sticky. I suppose if you played often you would learn and get used to it, really need speed to get through a short chip shot so distance control is a challenge.

Overall I recommend this course to anyone. Really fun track.

(if they miraculously were able to eradicate that crabgrass even I wouldn't be able to find a shortcoming here)

For the $29 cart included rate I got on golf now this was a great course to play at. Played in 4 hours. Never had a bad lie that I can remember all day. Greens rolled pretty decent. Not too much of a ... Continue »

For the $29 cart included rate I got on golf now this was a great course to play at. Played in 4 hours. Never had a bad lie that I can remember all day. Greens rolled pretty decent. Not too much of a challenge but overall it was a very enjoyable round. Only complaint is they could probably use a cart girl. Otherwise definitely a course I would recommend for an enjoyable round.

Played a late twilight and enjoyed the course. It's got a few interesting holes where water and tall trees make risk / reward a thought. It's been many years since I played here, but the course appear... Continue »

Played a late twilight and enjoyed the course. It's got a few interesting holes where water and tall trees make risk / reward a thought. It's been many years since I played here, but the course appears to be better maintained than I remember. No tips or great insight - I'll leave that for others that play here regularly - but give the course a try. For $18 weekday...its OK with me.

A nice day, but should be noted that the greens rating was severly influenced by the recent aeration. Nice layout, but could be better marked in some cases. E.g., the temporary tees on 15 were diffi... Continue »

A nice day, but should be noted that the greens rating was severly influenced by the recent aeration. Nice layout, but could be better marked in some cases. E.g., the temporary tees on 15 were difficult to find (across the water) and the distance to the green was not well marked. In general, well worth the cost, and a fun track.

great local course, if you are in the East Bay, go play this

great local course, if you are in the East Bay, go play this

I live a mile away from this course and never thought enough of it to bother playing it until now. But now,the cost of gas makes me shy away from long trips to better courses, and after finally playin... Continue »

I live a mile away from this course and never thought enough of it to bother playing it until now. But now,the cost of gas makes me shy away from long trips to better courses, and after finally playing on Earl Frye a few weeks ago for the first time in years,I discovered..... this is actually not a bad course at all. Its better than I thought it would be. Compared to high quality landscapes like Hiddenbrooke and Stonetree, alameda ,of course,cant shine like that, but for what its worth,alameda(earl frye) has just enough interesting landscape, mostly found in the dog leg holes,there are just enough interesting golf shots,over trees,cutting corners, just enough interesting contour of the course,avoiding water hazards,etc,nice condition fairways,and greens that are in good shape (for the moment/ but they will get chopped up through the summer),a decent twilight price of 20 bucks for residents, ....that it all makes this golf course a decent place to play.Not spectacular,but just good enough to be satisfied. and the bonus,for me, is that when I'm finished....I'm 4 minutes away from home. would I go out of my way and drive 40 miles to play here? No. would I pay 30+ dollars to play it ? no. In comparison to other courses you may be familiar with, I would call it slightly better than Metropolitan; maybe on a par with Tilden and Franklin Canyon. not quite as good as San Geronimo,Rancho Solano,Roddy Ranch or Shadow Lakes in terms of scenic beauty, or great golf shot landscape. Alameda is a flat course,and I like the rolling hills and interesting contours of courses like Delta View and Tilden,different looks to every hole,elevated greens,just things that make a hole Look interesting and memorable,inviting you with enough challenge to make a great shot .Alameda has some places where that happens,mostly on those nice dog leg holes.... but theres not alot that a designer can do with a flat landscape to make it look interesting, and alameda does about as good as it can to give you some interesting golf shots...a few narrow fairways,a few interesting water hazards,nice dog legs, strong wind at times,and just enough challenge to make you work for a good score.
Earl Frye is a decent golf experience. the staff in the proshop is considerate and flexible.The course is typically crowded but the pace of play is not hideous.
The practice facility is very good.and is lit up at night.
Its worth playing Alameda (earl frye) and if you live in the east bay, you might find it as nice to play as metropolitan and maybe even a little better.