Knebworth - Hertfordshire - England

*Warning* The greens are quick. The course is set in a pleasant countryside in undulating land meaning flat lies are few and far between. The quality of this course however is the greens. They do not suit a nervy putter, but will test every ounce of your mental strength all the way through to the three tiered 18th hole. Be a tier too high at your peril as with a false front, it's very easy to degreen your putt!

The rest of the course is decent, worth a knock if you are local, but I wouldn't personally go seeking it out for a round.

Played this for the second time last night, very busy as large society out but in good condition and play moved along smoothly.

Impressive opening hole which - if it wasn’t downhill - would be a brutal start.

Unfortunately the front nine is flanked by the almost incessant trains heading north south which shatters the tranquility of what would otherwise be a very nice walk round. Despite this the course is good, we’ll maintained and has a good variety of holes, some of which are quite challenging and attractive.

The third is a good par 5 with plenty of jeopardy for a second shot attempt at the green. The longish par 3 4th is a good hole too,

For me the picks of the back nine (which is flanked by the noisy A1M - see earlier comments) are the par 3 fourteenth, and the 18th, the second of a five -five finish back up past what is apparently a Second World War bomb crater that you drive down over on the first and it has a fiendish split levels front to the green - having hit two shots up to right edge of fairway not far short and was left with a horrible shot up the levels to a flag perched at the front edge of the top level. No way it could fly there and stop (well Mickleson might be able to) so tried to bumble it up and only made the level below the flag, but always nice to roll one in up the hill for a birdie to make the beer taste better after !!

Well maintained course with good variety of holes. Cannot for the life of me see what a previous reviewer is on about when trying to evaluate the value for money….. for what it is where it is, there is nothing to complain about and I can’t imagine that it is not a good club to be a member of.

The back nine feels a lot longer than the front, although it isn’t much longer - maybe that was because it was second round in 2 days and no lunch !- doesn’t seem that long ago when 36 holes in a day carrying were then fine, sometime on consecutive days on a lads trip away !?

Looking forward to a third visit as the 11th so far has cost me 4 balls OB (despite me usually fading or slicing the ball and the poor attempts to stop each one by the row of trees left)…. Perhaps landing on a(n) impressive practice area is trying to tell me something.

Great club house, stop for food and drinks before the round. great course condition. worth the money for a twilight round.

Knebworth is a good course, better than most in the area, but still many courses better than it too. It's worth coming down to visit and play, I enjoyed my round here, green fees are a little steep if you not playing with a member, I know I wouldn't have said £44 is worth it. The member's rate of £27 was reasonable.

Played here on a beutiful sunny but windy evening this week. A wonderful course with varied holes and good greens. The elevation changes gives the fairways a special character and make the holes look longer than they realy are. It's simply fun to play this Willie Park Jr. classic. Highly recommended in any case.

The only down sides to an otherwise excellent course are the constant drone of traffic from the nearby A1M and the dominance of the Glaxo building at the bottom of the course. The course undulates nicely with good green but only average bunkers. The first is as good an opening hole as you will find and the 3rd an excellent risk and reward par 5. The par 3's are a mixture, 2 fairly ordinary holes (8 & 10) and 2 absolute crackers(5 & 14). The course finishes with back to back par 5's which is fairly unusual. One bonus we had was that when playing from the elevated 2cnd. tee adjacent to the railway The Mallard steamed past, now you dont get that on many courses.

The addition of course rankings now down at county level is a great idea and courses like Knebworth now have a home within the rankings. I have played the course around six times over a twenty year period and have always come away with the same opinion – enjoyable course with a familiar mix of a few weak holes, plenty of strong holes and a couple that stand-out.I think the rankings that place this course towards the top third in Hertfordshire (approx 65 in the county) is about right and if any ‘floating’ golfer in the area is looking for a round, then Knebworth is a decent choice in my book. A very tough par-4 starts the round with an uphill approach to the green being the key shot – pars are rare for most at the opener. Next hole to mention for me is the par-4 5th, a downhill drive that should favour the right-side for the best approach which will be uphill to a tricky green. I am not overly keen on the ultra short par-3 at the 8th, not a lot to it to be honest but the 9th is a decent par-4 to complete the front nine. The first stick-out hole on the back nine would be the par-4 13th, dog legging to the right leaving a short uphill pitch that needs to land from a height, to hold another tricky green. The 14th is my choice of best hole on the course, a pretty tough par-3 that is all carry – anything short will leave a blind chip to the green which will not be easy at all. The 15th and 16th holes are a bit ‘ordinary’ for my liking but the final two holes are strong, especially the last which just like the 1st hole, will not surrender many par 4’s. Knebworth Golf Club is a popular members club with a great atmosphere and welcoming staff…

I know a member here at Knebworth, so I’ve played the course many times over the years. It’s not your usual Hertfordshire parkland course due to the elevation changes and I think it could be a much better course if only the bunker sand consistency could be resolved. The 1st is a really tough opener and I’ve only managed to par this hole once with many bogeys being the norm. Despite Glaxo, I think the ground and the holes at the far end of the course are the most interesting but overall it’s a course that I’m always happy to play, especially in the spring and autumn when the ground is at its best. As the main article has already mentioned, the par threes are really good, even the two shorter ones (8 and 10). While the 1st may be the hardest hole due to the fact that it’s the 1st, I think the 9th is a really tricky par four where position off the tee is crucial. The closing hole is a brilliant par four and many of my approach shots have ended up down in the crater 80 yards or so short of the green. My bogey hole apart from the 1st is the 6th which is more about getting the tee shot through the narrow avenue of trees. Good course, great club, fabulous food – Knebworth is a real member’s club.