Golf as an Integral Community Space

Conversation with Tamara Sabella, Director of Community Engagement, Greenway Golf & Corica Park Golf Course

“My grad work was in multi-cultural urban secondary education (teaching in inner city environments), so the fact that I landed on a golf course could not have been further from where I thought I would have landed … I didn’t know about municipal golf until landing this position. Municipal golf can be a vital community space and green space.”
-- Tamara Sabella, Director of Community Engagement, Greenway Golf

Providing equity-focused, eco-driven, and exceptional golf is the mission of Corica Park Golf Course (municipal golf course for the City of Alameda just outside of Oakland, CA).

I recently reconnected with Tamara Sabella, Director of Community Engagement for Greenway Golf, operator of Corica Park Golf Course. Tamara helps to coordinate community engagement initiatives for Corica Park and communities in Alameda and the Bay Area. We first chatted at the National Links Trust Symposium on Municipal Golf (last November), and I was thrilled to speak with someone who resonates so deeply upon our core values.

Corica Park shows that many of the values and visions we have been sharing for nearly four years through Driving the Green are not only possible but happening in such a tangible case study of success.

• Commits to natural and innovative resource management across 333 acres of land (home to about 2/3 of green space for the City of Alameda)

• Corica Park’s  no-cost youth golf programs to date comprise 94% people of color, 51% female and 90% first-time golfers

• Its South Course was named a top-15 municipal course in the country by Golf Magazine

• Corica Park provides a variety of golf and non-golf programming through its equitable space use and partnerships with over 30 other organizations

One of the core values that Tamara and I have connected upon is Integrity – what I consider my core value. Integrity relates to “integer” (a whole number) and integration (bringing differences together), while representing, in one word, both honesty and wholeness. Golf continues to teach me integrity in such a direct and embodied way, while at the same time, I am inspired to witness golf courses like Corica Park integrating their communities on both individual and collective levels. Below are some excerpts from our recent reconnection. Enjoy!

Questions and Comments: Andre

Answers and Dialogue: Tamara

At a higher level, what’s new in your world this year?

Higher level, I’m concerned with where the world is going, but every day I ask:

“What can I do for myself, my children, and society?” 

Things seem to be moving in the wrong direction (higher level), but I’m doing what I can on the local level.

I completely agree about that solution. The way I cope with the overwhelm is remembering my priorities and taking care of what I can, starting with myself.  When we met at the National Links Trust Symposium on Municipal Golf last November, we talked about this concept of harmonizing the healing of outer systems and inner systems – along with the role that golf has to play in allowing that work to unfold.

Please share about your background and how you found yourself in the golf industry.

My work has never been separate from my being, and my career has always focused on service. 

My grad work was in multi-cultural urban secondary education (teaching in inner city environments), so the fact that I landed on a golf course could not have been further from where I thought I would have landed. I taught in inner city Oakland for ten years in tutoring, mentoring, and providing things like nutrition/PE. 

I was also working with some wealthier communities, and back then I associated golf with entitlement and waste, but I’ve always wanted to bridge communities with education and the outdoors. 

Greenway’s owners, Avani & Umesh (Patel) opened that bridge through golf for me, and my perspective has really changed. I didn’t know about municipal golf until landing this position. Municipal golf can be a vital community space and green space.

Please share more about how that’s unfolding at Corica Park in the City of Alameda.

There are so many layers – community, youth, mentorship. The vision really focuses on space use so that the golf course is for everyone. We partner with non-profit organizations to bring in youth for increasing access to recreation, along with free camp, free transportation, and even free food. The very first thing I helped implement was our “On the Green” golf summer camp, which is going into our fourth year.

We talk about green space, outdoor play, making friends, and learning golf life skills in our youth programs, but there are so many initiatives even beyond that, many of which are completely non-golf related (free meeting space for nonprofits, green space activation for yoga and art therapy, small business fairs, and other ways to reimagine the space use). Some of the broader goals include bridging divides for strengthening community bonds, providing greater access to recreation for physical health, connecting people with one another and also disconnecting them from their devices for mental health, and leveraging the sport and the space to create workforce development initiatives for financial well-being. It’s rare to have green spaces that offer so many things in one place, and we’re able to have that.

..and from what I’ve read, Corica Park is home to almost 2/3 of the green space in the City of Alameda, with 333 acres, is that correct?

Yes! And because there’s so much land here, we have a responsibility to share it among more people.

That’s amazing! I’m curious if you witness any overlap in the activities offered in your space. For myself, I have so many passions and hobbies, but I wanted to share that I originally got into yoga and meditation practice through golf, so it was such a doorway into healing. Being a dumb young guy as a teenager, I just wanted to have lower scores and hit the ball further, so I got into mobility training, but that opened the door into other ways of awareness and breathing.

I’ve noticed that golf can be a tool for self-awareness and just feeling things (connecting to self and one another). Have you noticed linkages at Corica?

There’s something for everyone. Both exist. There are loyalists and traditionalists who just focus on golf, but we definitely see a lot of crossovers. Personally, I agree that golf is a meditative practice.

I believe there are many people that come here as non-golfers to attend other events and initiatives, but then get hooked into the game of golf. Martial arts, yoga, and golf clearly share common mental principles, and like you say, breath awareness or being present.

I had one day personally where I played a sunset 9 holes as a spiritual practice. Before every hole that I teed off, I said one thing that I wanted to release along with one thing that I’m grateful for.

Positivity is so important in the mental side of golf, and I always found that golf brings me back to intentionality. When I set clear, positive, and specific intentions, I’m more likely to go where I’m aiming. I would be very curious to hear more about what life lessons are taught through golf at Corica Park. What are the “ten commandments of golf”, so to speak?

We have five “Golf Life Skills”, and we do one every day. One example is talking about Positivity and manifestation – pointing our attention where we want to go. Other skills include Patience, Perseverance, Decision-Making, and Honesty.

We get feedback from the kids at our camp, and they often tell us that they feel seen here and they feel safe. I can also see how they’re learning how these golf skills apply as life skills, for example, why it’s so important to be honest.

Golf taught me integrity in such a direct and embodied way. There were some incentives to be dishonest with myself about my golf game, but the more honesty I practice, the more my game can improve, even if that improvement involves feeling pain or dissonance at times.

Yes! That one word can be such a game changer. One of the things I think can be so unique about golf, and why I believe it’s an antidote, is because it requires players to be honest as well as present, off of their devices, and to connect with one another over a lot of space and time. It’s multi-generational too. Grandchildren can connect with grandparents, so it brings people together across generations, across cultures, and even across political views or backgrounds.

Much of what we’re talking about is also language. I come back to this idea often that any sport or game that brings people together is really an embodied form of language. Golf is a language that expresses values like honesty and presence, for example. As you say, golf is also such a beautiful bridge across the illusions of boundaries and walls that we put up (either societally, or within self).

Yes, exactly. It’s a tool for integration and connection, including how to connect with nature. We recently met with the Muwekma Tribe to invite them as an important stakeholder in the discussion of including everyone’s needs. Some of our environmental initiatives include water usage such as using recycled water and drought resistant grass, educating people about compost and waste, and creating pollinator gardens. We needed new cart paths, so we put in walnut shells which are 100% biodegradable. 

We’re getting great feedback on the initiatives, but we’re also seeing how biodiversity (in the number of bird species) is coming back. We even had eagles return to the property for nesting.

Animals are the ultimate feedback I suppose of whether a land use is respecting nature or not. They are closest to nature and the most sensitive to environmental changes, so if animals feel safe, then so must be that local environment.

That sense of safety and freedom is also felt by humans, of course! It can be a huge game changer for urban environments to have a space that provides a community hub. In the inner city or concrete jungle, there’s only so much that you can see, but we can help people connect to an environment that literally broadens their horizon through a large green space that is associated with wealth, prestige, and success.

You’re reminding me that true “inclusion” means also including those I don’t agree with ideologically. I find that folks on the sustainability-focused side of the political spectrum preach diversity and inclusion, but don’t necessarily want to hear from or associate themselves with their political “opponents”. Golf can be a way to do that it seems.

Yes, and there are so few places where that can happen. The golf course is one of the few places where such opposite groups are likely to share recreational space, so it’s a great place to invite those connections. Golf does have a shared language, rule set, and etiquette. Some golfers might not “read the room” as well as they “read the greens”, but in general, the game teaches transferable skills like being present and mindful of surroundings.

You’ve been so gracious with your time and answering my questions. I wanted to make sure I asked about your community feedback initiatives. What have you heard from local communities in asking about their needs?

Mainly, it’s just about opening up a dialogue. What I hear most is that people need accessible places to connect with others, especially since the pandemic. Partnerships are everything. When stakeholders outside of the golf course are tapped into other relationships that can then be invited to the golf course. We have on the green and off the green community events that offer something for everyone. At all these events, we have ways to get feedback and suggestions from attendees. In order to create a true community hub where everyone belongs, everyone's voices need to be included. The more we can hear from our community, the better. Some of our initiatives have come directly from feedback and suggestions; our goal is for community feedback to drive what we do so that Corica Park is a place that is meeting community needs.

And is there any news upcoming for 2024 that you can share about?

We’re finishing the North Course this year, we have Toptracer Technology installed at the range, we just got in a fleet of new carts and we are building programs that utilize green space for mental health benefits, among many other exciting things. Summer Camp 2024 is also around the corner and always a favorite around here. The glue is happening! The glue, team, and cohesion are bringing the pieces together and we can feel the buzzing excitement. The more we collaborate with others, the more I feel hope, and I’m lucky to meet people who inspire me every day.

Which is a reflection of yourself! Thank you for the time, Tamara.

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