Knollwood ( Raynor/ Banks ) in ny

[mark chalfant]

This course is known for its great 18th hole.What are some of its other strengths ?  movement in the land, good greens,varitey in the routing.  thanks

[Matt_Ward]

Mark:

Yes, the 18th at Knollwood is as good a finisher as one can hope to play in the Westchester area -- and that says plenty given the overall quality of the private clubs in the region.

You have good land -- plenty of movement and the course is not as intense as say Winged Foot, Quaker Ridge and a few others.

Knollwood is just another example of a solid course that is rarely noticed and underappreciated.

[George_Bahto]

Here are a couple old picture of Knollwood, the short 3rd and the 18th

Banks and Raynor designed the present course, this after Tillie had been hired and for some reason left the job. Raynor died about the time they started doing the course over and Banks finished the course according to their plans.

I haven’t photo’s the course as is today (yet) so can’t give you the present pictures of the holes.

Perhaps someone on the site has the photos.

Hole 18 is about as good as it gets.

They have a 19th hole that is pretty neat. I think there is a good picture of it in Bill Quirin’s first MGA book - a great book on many courses in the northeast, by the way

Knollwood 3



Knollwood 18 - so good - but very overgrown now

[mark chalfant]

George: thanks for the neat vintage photos. The club has a good website that has very good written descriptions of all 19 holes. It sounds like many vintage features remain such as
berms, punchbowls and  deep sand pits  !

[fpd]

I've been a member at Knollwood for 7 years. Matt Ward is right. It's a delightful course that, while no Winged Foot, will challenge even highly skilled golfers. Most of the difficulty is on and around the Raynor/Banks green complexes, since the course is only around 6400 yards from the tips (par 71). We don't have many outside tournements, but when we do, no one shoots real low. Three years agao we had a local U.S. Open quali and only one pro broke par at -4. Last years Westhester Amatuer quali had the low round at +1. Sadly, George Bahto is right. The course could use some major bunker work to restore it to the look of 1926. We are starting to take some trees down, including the big one to the left of 18 green. That one came down last year.

George,

If you are interested, you can come up for a round. Would love to get your thoughts on restoration work.

cheers,
Frank