Stepping into Sustainability & Soul-Honoring Work at Corica Park

By: Marla Lee

Sustainability Manager, Greenway Golf

I’m thrilled to share that I’ve stepped into a new role as the first Sustainability Manager for Greenway Golf at Alameda’s Corica Park. With more than 20 years of landscape design experience, much of it right here in my hometown of Alameda, this isn’t just a new title. It’s an opportunity to help shape a vast, living ecosystem in our own backyard.

Corica Park occupies a unique place in our community: offering award-winning golf, a venue for youth camps, celebrations, and, thanks to more than 30 acres of unused, non-playable space, holds enormous potential to support native plant meadows, bird habitat, and healthier ecological systems throughout the park. Teaming up with Greenway’s innovative, forward-thinking team, my goal is to help unlock that potential with intention, care, and long-term vision.

Here’s what will guide the work ahead:

• Exploration

• Collaboration

• Creative problem solving

• Strategic planning

Building a Site Plan

Sustainability isn’t about seeking a quick fix. The work is both exciting and intentionally slow. It begins with listening to the land, the people who care for it every day, and the systems already in motion. This year, we’ll focus on developing a comprehensive Sustainability Site Plan to truly understand the land we’re working with and how it’s used. It’s a fully immersive process…one that requires slowing down, paying attention, and studying the smallest details: what’s here, what’s missing, what’s thriving, and what’s asking for balance.

Collaboration at the Core

This job doesn’t happen in isolation. A huge part of my role is collaborating with environmental professionals, Corica’s staff, and maintenance teams, learning from their experience and working together to establish baselines and realistic goals for eco-conscious care and improvement. Our findings may also help us advance goals outlined by the GEO Foundation for Sustainable Golf, further positioning Corica as a leader in sustainable course management.

Our studies include:

• soil composition, drainage patterns, and erosion control

• location and health of creeks, retention ponds, buffer zones, and how water moves across the site

• ways to reduce water overspray and manage irrigation more efficiently

• least-toxic approaches to pest and weed management

• monitoring existing wildlife and habitat needs

• analyzing patterns of play and underutilized spaces

Growing Habitat, Gently

From there, the focus turns to habitat creation and enhancement in out-of-play areas. These quieter spaces are where biodiversity can flourish…adding beauty, intention, and ecological value without disrupting play.

Possible efforts include:

• increasing bird/butterfly counts by planting native trees and plants that support specific species

• designing wildflower meadows between corridors for visual beauty and habitat

• improving soil health to support long-term plant success, moisture balance, and naturally store more carbon

• identifying areas that could function as wetlands

Making Sustainability Visible

I believe golf courses can be places of restoration, not just recreation. Places where soil is healed, water is respected, wildlife is welcomed, and people leave feeling more connected - to the land and to themselves - than when they arrived. I see this already happening on a small scale every time I tend the living wall we built in the courtyard between the clubhouse and Jim’s. Watching people pause to admire it is a joy, especially knowing it began as a blank wall that simply needed a vision for its potential as living art…and awe.

Education and visibility will play a growing role in this work. Through interpretive signage positioned throughout the park, guided tours, conversations and shared learning moments with staff, my goal is to make sustainability something you can see, understand, and feel while you’re at Corica…not something happening quietly behind the scenes.

I’m honored to be part of Greenway Golf’s commitment to environmental leadership and excited to do this soul-honoring work at Corica Park. This is just the beginning, and I’m grateful to share the journey.

— Marla Lee

Sustainability Manager, Greenway Golf