Played Knollwood on Monday morning at 8:15 as a threesome. There was a threesome of older ladies and a threesome of older gentlemen in front of us. We were prepared for a slow round. But we were pleas... Continue »

Played Knollwood on Monday morning at 8:15 as a threesome. There was a threesome of older ladies and a threesome of older gentlemen in front of us. We were prepared for a slow round. But we were pleasantly surprised, as both of these groups played fairly quickly. We finished the round in 4 hours. The course is in fair shape. Tee boxes are fine. The fairways are pretty thin, but playable. Rough is spotty. Could be long and lush or bare. The bunkers had very nice soft sand in them. They were a pleasure to hit from. The greens were in nice shape, smooth and running medium to medium fast. For the walking senior rate of $30, it was worth it. Speaking of walking, the back nine has about 5 consecutive holes that are severely uphill. This is a strenuous course to walk. Overall, a nice day of golf on a decent public course.

Played here for the first time with my son (his 40th birthday present), Driving range is two-tiered (mats only) and IRONS only. Ball machine on lower level hidden from view. Most fairways were lush as... Continue »

Played here for the first time with my son (his 40th birthday present), Driving range is two-tiered (mats only) and IRONS only. Ball machine on lower level hidden from view. Most fairways were lush as was the 1st cut of rough. Lots of places to lose balls. Tee boxes were lush and not divot-marked. There were a few where a level stance was almost impossible Greens were fast and did not hold well (freshly sanded). Narrow fairways and narrow gaps to aim your tee shots. Many of greens were tapered on the skirt and the balls rolled right off the putting surface. My son thinks that the track should be changed to make 10-18, 1-9 and vice versa. Hole #1 is the toughest hole on the course. Seems that #10 would be a better introduction to the course and the back a better way to start your round before facing a very tough front nine. Good value on GN that included lunch (choice of deli sandwich, breakfast burrito or hot dog, non premium drink and chips. Staff at the pro shop were okay, but seemed a little distracted. Starter was confused when we didn't show up with a cart key. Pace of play was 5 hours. At times there were three foursome sitting at the same tee waiting. The threesome ahead of us had lunch at the turn, so we skipped passed them and finished about 15 minutes ahead of the pace of play.

Played a round at KCC on Saturday with three friends and had a really fun time despite a few little hiccups along the way, mostly in terms of early POP and some thin areas around the course, but nothi... Continue »

Played a round at KCC on Saturday with three friends and had a really fun time despite a few little hiccups along the way, mostly in terms of early POP and some thin areas around the course, but nothing too awful.

If you play Knollwood often, you just need to know that a six-hour round is almost always a distinct possibility. It was looking like that for our group as well and we waited on every hole and then had a big pile-up at the fifth tee box. Luckily though, it seemed to ease up a bit on the back nine and we finished in just over five hours. Not great, but certainly not as bad as it looked early. The very slow snack shop/diner at the turn does little to get things moving.

As far as the course conditions, not too bad. I found the greens to be in nice shape overall and there are definitely a few tricky ones to work with around the course. They hold shots well and for the most part roll quite true. Likely the highlight of the course conditions.

There are definitely some thin areas to navigate around KCC, but overall the coverage is okay. As the last reviewer noted, it seems to thin out around the greens which can make those little chips quite tricky. Sand is usually in fantastic shape at Knollwood but the bunkers were a little less fluffy than their usual selves. Tee boxes were a mixed bag - some great, some kind of beat up. Pick your poison.

I played the blue tees which is a nice challenge at Knollwood. Not super long per se, but it definitely makes you work the right lines around this rather narrow, but at times quite beautiful track. The views from the tee box on #4 and #16 are very cool indeed. In summary, if you're not super pressed for time, Knollwood is a good choice right now for a fun round. And yes, still the toughest opening hole in SoCal!

There are many things good and bad about this course. Good: greens are nice, a fun layout where mistakes can really cost you, you must be straight off the tee/have solid iron play hitting to these sma... Continue »

There are many things good and bad about this course. Good: greens are nice, a fun layout where mistakes can really cost you, you must be straight off the tee/have solid iron play hitting to these small greens/and have touch and imagination around the greens. A teenager that can stay out of trouble and score here has already a solid game. Therefore even though Knollwood is not long its a great course to develop your game. Bad: The starter today was lousy, poor customer service and chaos early this morning, There are too many bare spots in the rough and around the green i.e. lots of awkward lies pace of play in afternoon has got to be horrible.....I think I'd rather play Balboa

Played Monday 4/18 at 10:45 under overcast skies with a hint of a breeze. The skies drizzled on us throughout the back nine. Hard to believe this was my first visit to Knowllwood. I wouldn't say this ... Continue »

Played Monday 4/18 at 10:45 under overcast skies with a hint of a breeze. The skies drizzled on us throughout the back nine. Hard to believe this was my first visit to Knowllwood. I wouldn't say this is a good walking course as it is quite hilly. There are elevated tee boxes and side hill lies throughout. The course layout is interesting & challenging. Quite a step up from the three Sepulveda Dam courses I usually play. The tee boxes were lush but not always level. The rains have certainly helped the course as the fairways were green and nicely mowed. There wasn't much rough to speak of, but many of the fairways have narrow flat areas, so if you aren't perfect you will have a side hill lie. Those are challenging enough without taller rough. I found several bunkers (greenside & fairway) and all were filled with fluffy, deep sand. I learned they had all just been reconditioned. The greens were well maintained but not particularly fast. The practice greens were much faster. We were sent out as a twosome between a foursome and a fivesome (yes, 5 some). The course was busy and slow. We waited on nearly every shot and got to know our neighboring groups at the tee boxes. This would turn out to be a 5 hour round. But the course was so much more interesting than the munis I normally play. Be aware this is an LA County course. As I have recently attained "Senior" status, I was unable to take advantage of their $16.50 senior rate with my LA City senior card. You MUST have an LA COUNTY senior card. So we were looking at paying the regular $30 rate plus $15 cart fee. However, they had a package deal that included golf, lunch, drink & cart for $38. Sold. While I did not play particularly well, and the POP was very slow, I will try this track again!

Played on 4/16 at 7:30 am. POP 4:30.

After all the rain we got in SoCal the past few months it seems every course in the area is at its best in a long time an Knollwood was the same.

The Tee bo... Continue »

Played on 4/16 at 7:30 am. POP 4:30.

After all the rain we got in SoCal the past few months it seems every course in the area is at its best in a long time an Knollwood was the same.

The Tee boxes were level and had good coverage.

The fairways were lush with minimal browning and bare spots.

Rough was hit or miss, wasn't long in any areas but plenty of areas with dirt.

Bunkers had good sand, weren't overly fluffy or too hard.

Greens were medium/slow but rolled true if you could avoid the ball marks that people neglected.

Overall it was a good day out there other than the very slow group in front of us.

Oh Knollwood, why must you mess with my emotions like this? On the one hand, your layout is ridiculously fun and challenging, and your conditions are quite good across the board, but your organization... Continue »

Oh Knollwood, why must you mess with my emotions like this? On the one hand, your layout is ridiculously fun and challenging, and your conditions are quite good across the board, but your organization is atrocious and your POP a total nightmare. I feel horrible giving KCC bad marks, but don't feel right neglecting the negatives either.

First, the positives. Layout is great fun. I love the uphill and downhill path this course weaves up in the SFV and when it's fairly lush and green like right now, it's truly wonderful. It's so nice to take in the view on the tee box at 16 and just feel good about being there.

The conditions across the board are all above average right now, with the bunkers getting even higher marks for their exceptional shape. There are mostly good lies to be found where you need to be, but it can get thin and there is some GUR (and heavy construction on the right side of the fairway on 7) to deal with here and there. The rough is fine but anything farther out than that and your asking for a mulch beating. Tee boxes are mostly good.

Now for the bad ... this may take a while. Had a 2:37 tee time and got there early only to see they were well behind (at least half an hour) and no carts were available. We eventually teed off just before 3pm and had a cart as they were shipping out as soon as they came in. The fivesome ahead of us was slowed down by the fivesome ahead of them and we eventually, after waiting on every hole, finished the front nine in three hours.

The rest of my group had to bail sensing a six-hour round, so I pressed on solo behind another fivesome, then was joined by a single on 11, then joined the fivesome ahead of us on 15 because the hacks in front of them were taking ages, then they left in the middle of 16, then it got dark, then we rushed to finish in the last possible light and get in 18 in roughly six hours. On a Friday. At twilight. That's just abysmal and takes the fun out of it.

Unfortunately it seems like these stories are happening far too often at KCC. And it stinks because it's such a great layout and fun day out - if you can even get it down to under five hours. Forget the weekends - I won't do it until I hear better stories. But that makes me sad as I would love for this place to get its act together.

Walked Knollwood Monday (4/10) as a foursome at 8am. We had a 5some in front of us. But they played pretty quickly, and only had to wait on them a few times for a few minutes. Completed our round in a... Continue »

Walked Knollwood Monday (4/10) as a foursome at 8am. We had a 5some in front of us. But they played pretty quickly, and only had to wait on them a few times for a few minutes. Completed our round in about 3 hrs. 45 min. Started off windy and cold. After about 5 holes, the wind died down and the weather warmed up, turning into a very nice day for golf. The course is more interesting than most of the LA city muni courses around (This is an LA County course). Numerous holes have elevation changes, with numerous dog legs and trees lining the fairways. The course is in quite decent shape, pretty good for a county owned public course. The fairways are somewhat thin and blotchy. But they are easily playable. Tee boxes were level and lush. The one sand trap I was in had very nice soft sand. The other bunkers also looked quite good. The greens in the early part of the round were a bit slow. But became more consistently medium fast over the bulk of the course. With tough pin placements today, there were a lot of hard breaking putts. But they generally rolled well, and were mostly smooth. It was an enjoyable round for $30 walking as a senior.

Got a chance to play here yesterday for $43 with 3 others for our first time. Let me start by saying we all found the course layout fun and engaging. The course conditions are what you might expect wi... Continue »

Got a chance to play here yesterday for $43 with 3 others for our first time. Let me start by saying we all found the course layout fun and engaging. The course conditions are what you might expect with all the rain and for a muni. The greens rolled nice but we're a little bumpy and medium fast. Tee boxes were average but you could always find a flat lie. The fairways and rough were patchy throughout. Thin in spots, thick in others, and semi lush at times so we played lift and place in the fairway. We all really enjoyed Knollwood and think it has the potential of becoming a great track with more "attention to details" in regards to conditioning. We will return in the near future to see if they pull it all together.