Knollwood Park is tucked away near several apartment complexes in Kalamazoo, MI - close to the Western Michigan University campus. 18 holes of disc golf play generally clockwise around the park.

This course is very short, but plays in the woods on mostly tight but fair fairways. Being so close to campus, I suspect that it is a common play for college age rec players - and there are fun throws here for that level of play. Twelve varied holes in the 150'-200' range provide opportunities to shape shots off the tee in different ways and try for aces or birdies. Doing so is not entirely without risk though. A (very murky) pond in the center of the park is lurking to the right side of hole 4, and behind the basket on holes 11 and 13. These latter two hazards are not really obvious from the tee, so don't say I didn't warn you!

Some holes in the back nine have decent elevation change as well, particularly the last four holes.

The baskets are yellow banded DISCatchers that are showing their age. They still caught okay as far as I could tell, but will need some maintenance/replacement soon. One basket appeared to have already been replaced, as it looked brand new.

The tee pads are concrete. Like the baskets, a couple of them are getting awfully old. But overall they are still okay. There are a few trash cans and benches near tees.

The orange banded DISCatcher across the paved area from the first tee is a practice basket!

There are several places where holes play close together. It would definitely be a problem if the park ever got busy.

This is very close to, if not THE shortest 18-hole course I have ever played. And among the easiest too. There are only three holes that are longer than 213' long, with the longest one only 270'. I play at an "experienced rec player" level, and (after starting my round with an absolutely egregious double bogey on the first hole) managed eight birdies, which I think is probably a single round record for me. Any moderate or advanced players are going to be throwing putters off the tee routinely, and looking for aces on almost every hole.

The tee signs looked like they used to be something better, but now they are just cracked wooden posts with a hole number Sharpie'd on. On some holes, even the posts were gone and only the concrete pad was left.

There aren't any navigational aids. You will need UDisc to navigate - or the course map uploaded here is still correct, other than...

There is no parking lot. Or rather - there is, but the gate allowing access to it seemed to be permanently closed. You'll need to park on the street outside of the park area, which is where the map here shows "Greenwood Ave" (but the actual street is Westbrook St.). Then, walk past the locked gate and follow the pavement down the hill to the left. The first tee is at the back of the pavement area.

There is no kiosk or porta potty.

I would have loved to have this course within walking distance when I was in college, and I would likely be a better disc golfer today if I had. But as is, I doubt that I will return to this one that is almost an hour away from where I live. It is just too short - and also feels sort of neglected and abandoned.

I would not be surprised to see this land repurposed and become another apartment complex within the next few years. In the meantime, come play here if you're local and looking for a fun short course. But the rest of us can give this one a miss and head to better courses nearby.

There's an astonishing amount of disc golf here crammed into a small plot of woods just off the WMU campus. The course plays in a wooded dip with a "pond" and marsh at the bottom. I'm not sure how they squirreled 18 holes onto the property, but it's a legit course to play even if the holes tend to run on the short side.

The holes are generally pretty good variety and there's some challenge here. Yes, it's an ace run course. I think I picked up 5 or 6 birds my first run through. That said, I bogied and double bogied several holes. Some of those strokes were just plain old tree kicks - this is a wooded course and while the fairways are more than fair sometimes you just hit the darn things.

Other strokes were caused by timid throws around the water feature. The pond is centered in the course and several holes play around it. Two involve fairly merciless dead putts with the water mere feet from the basket. Given how cramped the holes are, however, I'd say 5 or 6 holes have a very reasonable chance of ending up in the water on a long, flipped, or bad tree-kicked throw. The water did not strike me as the sort that you would easily get a disc out of, less so with thin layer of ice that was on them at the time. It adds an element of risk and challenge to the course to make up for the short distances of the holes.

Pads were all cement, though in various states of repair. Signs were sometimes but not always present for each pad. What was there looked nice. Benches or logs to sit on in a few spots.

Navigation was...acceptable by virtue of process of elimination. There just weren't many spots to put the next hole so you could usually figure out the path to take to the next one.

I played this course on one of those steel-wool grey Michigan winter days shortly after New Years. The snow had uncharacteristically melted and I'm certain I saw the park in its least appealing context.

I had the park to myself, which was good. I simply don't see how players don't hit other groups here. The holes are "snug" to say the least. Thankfully there should not be a lot of full power drives, but there's simply no way the occasional throw doesn't end up in another fairway or tee box.

The park has an odd, almost unwelcoming feel to it. The gate was closed when I arrived. I didn't see any parking to speak of - other reviews mention a small lot but I didn't see anything. Maybe it was covered by leaves. I ended up parking in the street. Not 100% it was ok due to a sticker partially obscuring the parking sign but I didn't get a ticket.

Student housing/apartments surround the park. While I can see the woods having a sort of natural beauty in the summer, maybe, the looming buildings and tightly crammed holes give it a sort of claustrophobic feel.

Graffiti is rampant. Some of it is...unkind. It looks like there are park regulars that write messages to one another.

The baskets look like they've been painted over a few times. They have that gnarly multiple layers of paint look to them - they probably need to be pulled, sandblasted, and powder-coated again.

Speaking of baskets, remember how I said I double bogied a few holes? Embarrassing when they're that short, right? Part of it was the basket positioning. They reminded me of that kid Urkel's pants from Family Matters, hiked up about 6" to 12" too high. This caused my putting form a good deal of trouble, causing numerous 2 and 3 putt holes. I'm sure you get used to it, but it really threw me the first time through, ESPECIALLY combined with that pond in the background for a few of them.

There's still trash. It wasn't as bad as other courses I've been to, not as good as others. Mostly alcohol bottles, some shattered.

One of the pads looked darn near shattered. You could play on it, but it was pretty broken up. I believe some of the other pads may have been cracked.

This course is in an odd position. I almost gave it a 1.5 until I really thought about why I was leaning towards that score. I considered the lower score because I simply can't see a reason you'd come out to this course when others are so readily available in the area. Oshtemo and Spring Valley are minutes away, Cold Brook, Robert Morris, and VIRA not much farther. It's a course a local would go to for the sake of variety or convenience off of campus. I'd never make a special trip to play it, but it's worth swinging by for a course bagger if they're in the area playing one of the others, especially in the off hours.

In a way, Kalamazoo is a bit spoiled with nice courses (ones they work hard at maintaining an putting in, to be sure!) and this course gets overshadowed by them. If I lived in the apartments or was frequently on campus, I'd likely play Knollwood. I'd probably be a better player for it as well as it is a good practice course for those upshots and putts.

I did take other reviewers' advice and only took two discs - a Buzzz and a stable putter. I didn't feel like I wanted much more other than fighting with my Buzzz flexing out of anny shots on me. That's where that practice I mentioned previously would come in - I don't normally force my Buzzz into that role and bringing only two discs forced me out of my comfort zone a bit (and padded my score, I'm sure).

The course is fine. If you're interested in trying different courses while you're in the area I'd hit it after going to the other "bigger" ones. Take two or three discs (preferably ones you might not mind losing in that very dubious pond) and try some technical shots you're not comfortable with.

This course is that pair of old tattered jeans that your wife wants you to throw out but you refuse to do so.

There is a lot to like in my mind about small technical courses and that's what this is all about. I really enjoyed the mix of shots required to navigate the course. Hole 1 played the longest and is a 280 foot hyzer. That being said , you really don't need much more than a good midrange disc that you feel confident throwing on a variety of lines and a putter. I brought my entire bag and felt kind of dumb by the end of it because I didn't touch my drivers once.

Fairways are reasonable in terms of lines and there are enough trees to force you to hit your shot. If you do happen to hit a tree there isn't too much punishment except for the holes where the nasty brackish water comes in to play. So if you don't hit your line you're pretty much taking a 3. I couldn't see myself ever getting a bogg on this course unless I somehow hit the water.

The water really only comes in to play on two holes but I really like how it is brought in to play. The first hole in which water is present the basket sits on a narrow strip of land between two pits of nasty black water. This requires a really well controlled tee shot as well as testy putt.

The other hole on which the water comes into play is an approximately 190 foot semi open fairway with the basket at the top of the slope heading to the water. Again this requires a well controlled shot that is fairly testy especially considering the packed nature of the dirt at this course.

There is good use of the few hills in the park on the back 9 that require you to land and stop your disc on a down slope as well as a hole that uses the road going on to the park as an OB line.

There is surprisingly descent tee signs at most of the holes.

As you can see, I really liked this pair of jeans...and I'm sure at one point in time they were really nice...

And then the jeans got worn every day for years on end until they were torn up and the fabric became paper thin.

A lot of the baskets are sitting strangely high and it seems as thought it may be simply because the dirt around them has just taken a pounding year after year. The baskets themselves catch reasonably still but are showing their age and are covered with graffiti.

The dirt throughout the entire course is packed down so hard that nothing will grow. When your disc hit the ground dry dirt immediately kicks up all around it. You certainly have to play with the expectation that your disc will slide an extra 10-20 feet upon landing if it is hitting the ground at a flat angle.

The water that is present is pretty nasty looking and pretty stagnant in a few areas.

The trash cans haven't been emptied in a while and a few of them look like they've been tipped and bottles were strewn about.

In a few spots there was an excessive amount of broken glass from the nearby apartment complex. Their balcony overlooks the hole and it seems like they like throwing empty liquor and beer bottles at the basket instead of discs. A shame that people act this way.

The area surrounding the course and just the feel of the course itself is best described as scuzzy. It just didn't FEEL particularly clean or safe. It felt like a course that hadn't been cared for which is probably mostly true and considering no matter how much work you put into the course it would probably be quickly undone by the traffic from the university I can understand why.

I would say at one point the ceiling for this course was probably a 3.25 rating, but that time is no more and I doubt it every will be again.

You want to keep wearing the jeans, and at one point they were probably pretty nice jeans...but you know deep down that you have better jeans to wear...I'd play this course again in a pinch, but there are better courses near by that aren't so abused.

I really liked the course in and of itself. It has a fun variety of shots that are not overly punishing if you miss your line. It's certainly good if you only have time for a short round and are in the area...But if you're in the area and you only have time for one course do yourself a favor and play either Oshtemo or Spring Valley. Both courses are far superior in just about every way and are close by.

short holes, easy disc lines, makes you effectively shoot a mid range game, no need for any champion plastic drivers here. quick rounds.

short course is an understatement, trash everywhere, downtown off of college dorms so they all troll around the tiny parking lot making hole #18 hard to shoot because people can be standing near the basket. alot of intersecting holes that zig zag all over the place so watch your face as you cross a path.

this course is highly laughable, and it would take alot fo keep it nice...between all the "hipsters" getting in your way, and the abundance of trash everywhere, id rather go to oshtemo dgc or airzoo for a quick but more fun round.

- Knollwood park is a fun little wooded course with nice touches of elevation and water in just the right spots. This is the definition of pitch and putt, as no hole stretches over 270 ft., but there are just enough trees, elevation, and water to make this course worth a quick play.
- Water. There's not a lot of it, and it can be pretty easily avoided, but the tricky "invisible green" on #11 looks deceptively dry from the tee. The entire right side as well as directly behind the basket is mostly stagnant water, something that doesn't become obvious until you've taken a few steps towards the basket after teeing off.
- Elevation. Nothing "wow" but the little bit available is put to good use, especially on #'s 17 and 18. Hole #18 tees off downhill through large mature trees' trunks towards the basket below. Several of the greens play fast because of the combination of short length and loss of elevation.
- Well-worn with heavy usage, but with enough trees to provide several different looks or allow various shot options, from a line-shaping standpoint.
- Ace-tastic! Come with a putter and/or mid-range and get to work on those ace totals! Not boring by any means, but plenty of short holes that reward hitting the obvious line(s) with birdies and aces.

- Terribly rutted natural tees (with the exception of hole #1 which if I remember correctly was concrete). The front of the teebox is marked with a wooden 4 x 4. The eroded tees often make the front of the box a
tripping hazard as the wooded markers stick out of the ground. Several of the tees were muddy and these have to be a nightmare in wet conditions.
- No real tee signs of which to speak.
- Not incredibly challenging. While it's fun enough as a putter/mid only sorta round, most experienced players would be served better by some of the other area courses.
- Pretty trashed, litter-wise.

- Unfortunately, the traffic this course seems to see regularly typifies the worst of the disc golf stereotypes. While I'm far from an opponent of cracking down on what people do in their free time in the public parks (so long as they do it in a discreet manner that doesn't infringe on others' enjoyment of the park), the sort of behavior I witnessed at this park in my short time there was certainly of the sort that
not only gets courses pulled, but is also often used as arguments against putting in new courses. /soapbox

we had a local show us the course, he even shot a round with us, without him we wouldnt of know where to go. Its a short course, so many chances for aces and birdies.

trash everywhere, beer cans everywhere, water hazards, high baskets, alot of traffic, but its near the college so I expected that/

Thanks again to the local that played discgolf with us, had alot of fun.

Good if you don't have enough time for a large course

Lots of people sometimes, dirt tee box, small parking area not spread out

don't go after its rained or has been raining a bunch because most of the course is dirty. however they have been trying to clean the course up with wood chips which helps

No fee to play and close to Western Michigan University for locals. Fairly short course good for those who don't throw far. Trees make for constant decision making challenges.

The course is heavily used and most of the fairways are dirt. Play can be slow as large groups of college kids take a while to move through. Signage is poor.

There doesn't seem to be much upkeep, regulations or maintenance by whomever owns the course.

Dog friendly, people friendly disc course.
If you want a good score or an ace this is the easiest course I have played in the Kazoo area to achieve one.
Densely wooded private area.
Good baskets!
This course is nice if you want to practice your short game and accuracy. If you are playing by yourself or small group your can play the course in 30-60 minutes. (Assuming the course is close to empty which is about half the time).

This park between the hours of 3 pm-dusk M-F can be very busy.
Since most players out there are new there really is no golf etiquette.
The park was built on a old drainage site to the Arcadia neighborhood. Therefore the water is disgusting. You might see people wading and looking for discs in it though!
Some holes have broken glass everywhere, with bottles and trash thrown about.
Residential apartment buildings surround the area.
There have been hornets nest in some of the dead logs that are right next to some of the holes!
Tee pads are natural.
The course is not marked, however it is so short it would be hard to get lost. This course has no room for long drives or any type of long play.
Parking can be issue if the course is busy. Beware of parking outside the course, the parking authority will ticket you if you do not follow the posted directions on where to park.
I have seen plenty of cars hit by discs. Some of the holes are right next to the street.

This is a great warm up or practice course. If you want to play fast come in the morning (by 2pm) when all the college kids are still sleeping. If you are visiting the area and only have time for a round or two, skip this course for some of the other courses that have much more to offer.

Good beginner course. Short distances, but with plenty of trees to challenge the better player. Some elevation changes, and a few holes come close to the water (but the pond is quite small). Some of the holes seem to have two tees, but both are pretty easy. If a concerted effort to clean up this park were made, and some signs were installed, this might be a nice little park.

Baskets are is poor disrepair and trash and graffiti seem to be a big problem here. No signs of any kind on the tees (nor on most of the baskets), but the locals seem to be pretty friendly and will help you find your way around.

About what you'd expect of a course stuck in a tiny green space in the middle of college residence living. Seemed to be a lot of police visits while I was there (and I noticed a speed trap on Michigan Ave, so beware).