Alameda Commuters Golf Tournament

Founded on a Ferry Boat in 1927.......
The Committee has been in existence since 1927 when, recognizing that the City was going to build a new golf course, a small group of Alameda-to-San Francisco commuters got together on the ferry rides over and formed the Alameda Commuters' Committee.

Remember, ferrying was the only way to get to San Francisco efficiently - the Oakland-East Bay Bridge was merely an idea! The California State Legislature had created the Toll Bridge Authority in 1926 with the charter to plan just such a span. It opened in 1936 - 8 years after the first Commuters' Golf Tournament. See Cal Bridges.

The first Commuters' Golf Tournament was held at the Alameda Municipal Golf Course shortly after it opened in 1928. Since then, the facility has been renamed to the Chuck Corica Golf Complex in honor of former Alameda Mayor Chuck Corica who was influential in saving the course property from being turned over to residential development.

Originally, the Committee Members were residents of Alameda who commuted back and forth to their jobs in San Francisco via ferry. The ferry ride gave them a good opportunity to discuss the prospect of creating a golf tournament such as the "Commuters" and encouraged lively discussion in a distinctly pleasant environment. Our Committee Historian, Dr. Alan Mitchell, is in the process of preparing various archived historical data and materials for transferral to digital form and subsequent inclusion here.

Season Activities
During the "Commuters Season" - essentially lasting from mid-January to early May each calendar year, the Committee meets on scheduled Wednesday evenings to discuss the objectives and requirements of that year's tournament. Assignments are made to individual members to support/manage various sub-committees and report on said sub-committees' activities. All members hear all sub-committee reports at each such meeting and are entitled to make whatever comments or suggestions they feel are appropriate. Finally, on the Wednesday following the tournament's completion there is a "critique" meeting where all problems and issues that arose during the tournament itself are discussed/analyzed. That meeting is always quite lively and usually provides small and sometimes important changes to our processes and procedures for running the tournament.

As an example, last year we instituted a new Pace of Play policy. That policy resulted in considerable improvement in the efficiency of play last year and the tournament rounds took less time than usual to complete. Many players commented positively on its effect. With one season of experience using that policy, and as a result of comments and observations made at the "critique" meeting, and through follow-up work by the Pace of Play Subcommittee, we are adjusting it to further improve the efficiency of playing the tournament.

All such changes are made with the tournament participants in mind - we endeavor to make participation in the Alameda Commuters' Golf Tournament a highlight of each players' year. The NCGA is also informed of any procedural changes planned by the Committee.

Past Champions

1928 J. Charles Jordan	1929 Ralph P. Freese	1930 Howard C. Stovel	1931 Howard C. Stovel
1932 Stuart Heatley	1933 Stuart Heatley	1934 Roland B. Wagner	1935 Howard C. Stovel
1936 Walter Tebaldi	1937 R. C. Graham	1938 Einar Hansen	1939 Phil Gordon
1940 Matt Palacio, Jr.	1941 Talbert Smith	1942 Earl Fry, Jr.	1943 Ralph Hall
1944 Elmer Cities	1945 Henry Suico	1946 Talbert Smith	1947 Talbert Smith
1948 Don Whitt	1949 Bob Rosburg	1950 Talbert Smith	1951 Talbert Smith
1952 Talbert Smith	1953 Aldo Galletti	1954 Talbert Smith	1955 Elmer Cities
1956 Robert Snelling	1957 Jack Luceti	1958 Robert Unthank	1959 John Lotz
1960 Richard Lotz	1961 John Lotz	1962 John Lotz	1963 Richard Lotz
1964 Jim Johnson	1965 Terry Small	1966 Bob Smith	1967 Ray Leach
1968 Forrest Fezler	1969 Forrest Fezler	1970 Kelly Moser	1971 Rod Velasquez
1972 Sandy Galbraith	1973 Bob Berg	1974 Bob Blomberg	1975 Doug Poole
1976 Mike Powers	1977 Tom Costello	1978 Bob Blomberg	1979 Bob Blomberg
1980 Milt King	1981 John Susko	1982 Bill Malley	1983 Ally Trompas
1984 Bob Blomberg	1985 Aly Trompas	1986 Bob Blomberg	1987 Ken Webb
1988 Gary Vanier	1989 Gary Vanier	1990 Gary Vanier	1991 Ken Webb
1992 Mark Sear	1993 Bob Blomberg	1994 Randy Haag	1995 Rob Martin III
1996 Dong Yi	1997 Jeff Burda	1998 Ryan Wilson	1999 John Ellis
2000 Darryl Donovan	2001 Darryl Donovan	2002 Matt Bettencourt (266)*	2003 Rick Reinsberg
2004 Rick Reinsberg	2005 Carlos Corona	2006 Rick Reinsberg	2007 Rick Reinsberg

* Tournament record

Seniors' Champions

1988 Jim McMurtrey	1989 Earl Forbes	1990 Hank Lucente	1991 Jim McMurtrey
1992 Jim McMurtrey	1993 Fred Strebel	1994 John Cranston	1995 Bob Callan
1996 Bob Olds	1997 Dan James	1998 Bob Olds	1999 Bob Olds
2000 Bob Heaton	2001 Jay Guerin	2002 Roly LaMontagne	2003 Bob Callan
2004 Mike Butler	2005 Merton Goode	2006 Jeff Early	2007 Gary Vanier

Below is a photo of 6-time “Commuters champion, Bob Blomberg, dressed in his Alameda Commuters Committee "greencoat”.

In 2001, Bob was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Northern California Golf Association, for his 30 years of stalwart play, great golf sportsmanship and for always behaving like a true gentleman. Bob's on-course demeanor and the way he relates to his fellow competitors exemplify the true spirit of the dedicated amateur golfer.

Bob is a great ambassador for golf and for the Alameda Commuter’s Golf Tournament.