Jack Clark (Alameda) Golf Course

Last Friday, at the peak of the Grand Cardinal Cross,  the girl and I took our afternoon off to go play a round of golf. First, we went to Monarch Bay at the San Leandro marina – the parking lot was completely full. Apparently, there was a junior league tournament. Next, we went to Metropolitan Golf Links near the Oakland Airport. They were really expensive and the guy was a total jerk.

Our choices were back to Chabot (we’re not ready for the 18-hole there yet) or to one of the two Chuck Corica courses in Alameda. We ended up going to Alameda and had a really nice time. We chose the south (Jack Clark) course because it was a link-style course and was supposed to be much better for beginners. The fees were $35 per person, with cart, after 2:00 p.m. It got really chilly at around 5:30, but otherwise we were doing pretty good.

The first half sucked for me. We felt rushed – the ranger came out a couple of times to tell us that people were waiting behind us. But, then she told us that she was happy to see more women out on the course, and asked us to bring some more women friends. We screwed up on the shortest holes, go figure. Hole #8 was awesome, though. We had to get the ball over a huge water hazard from the tee – probably at least 80 yards – and we made it!

The back nine was MUCH better. I shaved off at least 10 points. The putting was consistent – around two strokes per hole – and the greens were fairly true. Michelle tells me (from reading one of her many golf websites) that scoring 120 is good for beginners. She got 108 and I got 113. I guess we’re pretty darn good then. Neither one of us made par on any of the holes, but we were really really close.

Here’s a brief blurb from their website:

“The Jack Clark Golf Course was originally designed by William Francis Bell in 1957. It was partially redesigned by Robert Muir Graves in 1977. This European, links style course features rolling windswept fairways, sandy waste areas, pot bunkers, and large true greens.”

Slope Rating:
Black – 71.6 / 119
Blue – 70.1 / 117
White – 67.5 / 112
Red – 70.0 / 113 (I have no idea what any of that means, except “red” is where we played from”)

The second best part of the day is when we had dinner at the club house. We had a great bartender – Shannon – who was very attentive and gave us gigantic shots of Patron. She also recommended the Slider Burgers (3 per serving), which was OUT OF THIS WORLD!! They came with a generous side of curly fries. Maybe it was because we were cold and tired, but they were the best burgers I’ve ever had!

We’ll probably try the north (Earl Fry) course another time – but for sure we’ll go back to the club house for more of them sliders!

Dear Journal,

Mama L. told Mama M. about some Grand Cardinal Cross that was supposed to show up in the sky this past Friday and Saturday. She said that some famous astrologer named Susan Miller, whom I have yet to meet, said that it’s the first time she has ever seen so many planets forming a perfect square to each other, and that it’s unlikely to be seen again! I tried to look for it all day but I couldn’t see anything at all, even after the morning fog had lifted. I don’t know about this Susan Miller; I mean, I have much better eyesight than most humans and I couldn’t see any crosses in the sky. After a while, I got bored, but I managed to get Lil Sis all riled up and played a vigorous game of soccer!

Anyway, the Mamas had decided to take Friday afternoon off because of that Cross. Susan Miller had said that it was going to be a tense day. I thought the Mamas were going to hang out with us and at least take us to the Dog Park! But instead, they spent the whole afternoon golfing! I couldn’t believe it! And it wasn’t the usual 9-hole they played either – that would have only taken an hour and a half. No, instead, they took five hours to play an 18-hole course. Lil Sis and I found a Golf magazine on the floor, and we let our feelings known to the Mamas in no uncertain terms. Perhaps next time they’ll think twice before doing that again!