I'm always looking for new places to play golf, so I recently decided to try Knollwood Golf Club. To be honest, I wasn't expecting much. There are two courses at Knollwood, Old and New. I booked a round on the New Course, which despite being the longer of the two designs, is just over 6,000 yards from the back tees. It's a conventional par 72, with four par-3 and four par-5 holes.
I shot 43 on the front nine, with two pars and seven bogeys. The pars came on holes #2 and #4. The former is a 459-yard par-5. I hit driver to the centre of the fairway, followed by a tentative 3-iron that finished 10 yards short of the green. I pitched on and had a go at birdie, but just missed. The latter is a 123-yard par-3 surrounded by woods. I hit gap wedge to the edge of the green, followed by a good lag putt and tap-in.
Hole #1 had me worried that the course would be a cake walk. It's a short par-4, measuring just 275 yards. I hit two bad shots, finishing left of the green, but still pitched on and 2-putt for bogey. Any worries about the course being too easy started to change with hole #3. This is a 410-yard par-4. It's a dogleg left, with big trees protecting the inside corner as well as the outside. If you don't draw the ball with your driver or woods, the tee shot is a bit of a dilemma.
I gave up distance for safety, hitting 5-wood to the right rough, short of the trees. As I walked to my ball, the real difficulty of the hole revealed itself. About 80 yards in front of the green, large trees pinch in on both sides. If you don't hit your ball low and through the goal posts, you'll find the forest on both sides. I didn't even think about the green, as I hit a half swing 5-iron through the posts and short of the green. I messed up my pitch shot, coming up short, but I managed to chip one close and 1-putt to collect the bogey I was looking for.
Hole #5 is a 453-yard par-5. From the blue tees, you must hit through a narrow chute to get to the fairway. I pulled my first attempt into the woods. Hitting my third from the tee, I still managed to save a bogey. Driver, 5-wood got me to within 20 yards of the green. I made a nice pitch and putt to finish. If I hadn't messed up the first tee shot, this would have been a birdie.
I made good decisions on holes #6 and #8, both of which are par-4 holes. The first of these is a short par-4 with a dogleg, but it uses the large pinching trees to add significant challenge. Though my tee shot found the fairway, I did not want to mess with the trees. I played a layup to 20 yards in front of the green. From there, I pitched on and 2-putt for bogey.
On hole #8, I pulled my tee shot well left of the fairway. Rather than try a recovery shot, I played a layup to the right side of the fairway, 60 yards short of the green. My third shot carried a creek in front of the green, but was short of the putting surface. Thankfully, I chipped on and 1-putt to get another bogey.
I shot 45 on the back nine, with a birdie, six bogeys and two doubles. The birdie was on hole #14, a 375-yard par-4. My drive finished right beside the 100-yard stick. From there I hit a fabulous sand wedge inside two feet. This is a very sloped green with a weird hump near the front, so I did well to get the birdie.
Hole #12 was the first real blemish on my scorecard, as I earned double-bogey. This par-4 measures 399 yards and is a slight dogleg to the right. I hit what I thought was a good drive to the left side of the fairway. I thought that I went through the end of the dogleg, but that I would find my ball a couple yards into the rough. No such luck, as the ground was hard and sloping down to the left toward a hazard. My ball must have rolled into the long weeds. I was forced to take a penalty stroke and could not attack the green from that position due to trees. I hit a 9-iron just right of the green, then chipped and 2-putt for the double.
Holes #16 and #17 are back-to-back par-5 holes. On the former, I hit driver to the left rough, followed by a great 7-iron, leaving 50 yards to the green. The green is much wider than it is deep, so I tried to bounce one just in front and have it trickle on the putting surface. I thought the shot was perfect, but a small slope just in front of the green actually kicked my ball to the left and backwards. I chipped one to within 6 feet and made a great par attempt, but it lipped out.
Hole #17 measures a healthy 547 yards. I hit a perfect drive to the left centre of the fairway. I tried to play a half swing 3-iron on my second shot, but pulled it into the left rough, 150 yards from the green. I had a large tree interfering just ahead on the left and a cluster of bushes right of the green. It was the kind of situation where avoiding one obstacle brings the other more into play. I opted to lay up about 40 yards short of the green. I messed up the subsequent pitch, but chipped on and 1-putt from 10 feet to save bogey.
Hole #18 was disappointing, for no other reason than it was my only 3-putt of the day and produced a double-bogey. I pulled a 5-wood off the tee badly, but cleared some woods and avoided a pond. Small trees were blocking my path to the green, so I just hit a wedge back in the direction of the fairway. From 70 yards, my lob wedge was a little right of the pin. I had a long downhill putt and left it just a bit too short. The bogey putt was no gimme, but makeable. I made an excellent attempt, but the ball lipped out, just as it had on #16.
Overall, breaking 90 was pretty good. I like that this was a controlled round and that some conservative decisions actually paid off. As for the course, I was satisfied. Conditioning could have been better on some greens, but I have no real complaints. The course is not spectacular, by any means, but represents good value.
Score: 88
Putts: 31
Fairways: 6
Greens: 3
Penalties: 3
No comments:
Post a Comment