A new Bay Area golf course will open to the public this week, and it will open to rave reviews.
After all, it's already received high praise from amateur golfers and Golden State Warriors stars Steph Curry and Andre Iguodala.
While the narrative in recent years has been that golf is a dying sport, there are signs pointing towards resuscitation. When the bulldozed and rebuilt from scratch south course reopens at Alameda’s Corica Park on Friday, it will join Palo Alto’s Baylands Golf Links as the second local course to do so in less than a month.
George Kelley, the CEO of Greenway Golf, which oversaw the construction and manages the facility at Corica, says golf is not going away.
"I really believe that there’s a resurgence in golf right now," he said. "You can say what you want about golf and the downturn in the number of players. Testimony is the athletes who love golf. Both Steph and Andre said they play every day in the off-season. I mean, they’re living for golf."
Last week, Curry got a sneak peek of Corica the day before the Warriors' victory parade while Iguodala tee’d up the day after.
"Yeah, I played the course before it was completely redone, and it’s a different vibe," Iguodala said. "Took down a lot of trees. Raised it a little bit. Kind of has a links-y feel to it. But it’s a lot of fun. You can use every club in the bag, which is the type of course that I like."
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That was the goal of famed architect Rees Jones. The course design was meant to mimic the great links-style courses of Australia’s sandbelt.
"With the wind here and the fact that you have a lot of average golfers, this golf course is really going to suit the ground game, which could make it very popular for the average player," Jones said.
