You might think Knollwood Park is a run down craphole when you drive up to the gate and there is a sign that says the park is closed. Plus, I had been told by some of Michigan's disc golfers that the place is a dump with broken glass over over the place. I went to play it in the afternoon and the gate was locked with no cars parked there. I proceeded to drive all over the neighborhood trying to find another entrance. No luck. Later that evening, we drove back to that locked gate and there were lots of cars parked there. We talked to some golfers and they directed us to the first tee.

Immediately, we were pleasantly pleased with all aspects of the park and the course. The course has concrete pads and excellent tee signs . The Discatchers are old, ugly but catch well enough. Knollwood is an enjoyable but challenging recreation course. It's more technical than long. I think 12 holes are under 200' and all are cool Ace runs. There is a nice variety of Ace runs, hysers, annies, uphills, and downhills. The rough is thick in places and water comes into play on three or four holes.

The park that I thought was pretty dingy, was actually pretty clean and graffiti free. We didn't think the garbage was that noticeable. There were a lot of golfers out tonight. The course is popular.

The basket placement on # 11 is pretty interesting. It seems on a small peninsula surrounded by the brackish water. And we didn't notice a smell from this water. Wouldn't want to bathe in it, though. Hole 1 is a 280' hyser shot through the trees throwing from a fun, slightly elevated pad. It 's a nice hole to start off your round.

There is quite a bit of erosion and hard packed areas in most of the park. Some retaining walls and walkways could here with this problem.

No holes to even bring out your drivers. Players can play this course with mids and your putter.

The water is pretty snarky looking. I didn't want to step into it. Might be some hidden monsters lurking in the murky depths.

I think the multitudes of WMU students playing and hanging out here don't help with the course's poor image. The neighborhood around the park, which all seems to WMU student housing, seems really shabby. I'd call it university ghetto.

Duane (bogeynomore) and I both liked this course. We had a great time playing it. It's just a nice course to play on that Friday night. Because of the water hazards and some treacherous rough, there is some element of pressure here. Hopefully, the WMU students can cease and desist from using this park at their personal dumping ground.

Short holes, no drivers needed, variety of shots and some tight lanes. Pads are in decent condition.

Some trash around, baskets are too high. Two baskets are within feet of the water hazard, and if your disc goes in there...goodbye. That pond is like a black hole. Use caution!

I went in winter before the snow hit and after finals... so no snow and no people lounging. The gate to the entrance was closed so thankfully two locals were playing and I just followed their lead (start just down the road at #17). One was an organizer of tourneys there and was very nice & informative.

Aesthetic-- Park is pretty much single use. Very urban park but I didn't see much other use in this park. It was closed when I played but easy enough to get into. There will also be cons here.

Challenge--Though short, this course is good to work on midrange/putter line shaping. the little bit of elevation is used well.

routing-- relatively easy, even covered in leaves.

Risk v Reward-- present in the form of that nasty swamp. most folks skip those two holes.

Aesthetic-- There are plenty of trashcans but they seem to be all emptied by "people" looking for cans. and then they just leave the trash on the ground.

Baskets-- Old DisCatchers some are single chains and they seem to be about a foot or two too high.... almost taller than me (6'4'') in some cases.

Challenge--Very short course, I think I ran 7 birdies when I played.

Surrounding neighborhood is Uber hinky and there isn't much fence around the park to keep the riff-raff out.

Pads--the tees are marked by kick-strip 4x4's in most cases. Deeply rutted but not dangerous.

Potential Danger- course plays over paths several times and once blindly over a footbridge.

This course is a lot like Old Farm in Grand Rapids. buried in a neighborhood with short holes and not well taken care of.

beautiful wooded surroundings, a good course to learn on, birdies and aces are possible

no signs at all, tees are nearly non-existent on most holes, extremely hard to know where to go, lots of trash and broken glass

The surroundings could be beautiful but it's littered with trash, much of which is broken glass (watch your step!). I barely knew where hole 1 was, let alone the next 17. There are no signs at all and the paths from hole to hole aren't very clear. Most holes are fairly short and give you a good chance to par or birdie on. It's a great course to learn on but would probably be fairly boring to a more skilled player.

The course plays through a small wooded park that seems to be disc golf exclusive. The course plays through woods with some underbrush, enough to punish errant shots but mostly not so thick it'll eat discs. There are a couple holes that bring some small ponds into play for a little risk/reward, and the locals have made paths so it's easy for new players to skip the water holes should they so choose. There's a nice mix of hole shapes, with a good balance of left, right and straight shots required. The length is very short, but there are enough trees and enough different lines that the course doesn't feel too repetitive.

There are no signs at all, so you don't always know if you're on the right hole or shooting to the correct basket. Most of the baskets are numbered, but due to a ton of graffiti some have been painted over. The tees are natural and not in the best shape, luckily you shouldn't need much run up here. The baskets are single chain for the most part, so they don't always catch perfectly. There was quite a bit of trash around the course. A couple holes bring the park entrance road into play, it seems like a lot of newer players with less accuracy frequent this course so it could be a safety issue.

This is a fun course to play with a putter or super class disc, it's very short but still interesting. Beginners will learn a lot here, with distances appropriate for newer players but different lines they'll need to hit to be successful. More experienced players will find every hole to be an ace run, but you can still get in trouble and have to work for your three if you aren't accurate.

Nice for a quick round, or a nightcap round on your way home from another course or as a warm-up. Fairly easy to navigate. Hard to lose a disc, except on the water holes which can be skipped if desired. Challenging enough to keep it fun, but not hard. A great beginner's course. Adult beverages are no biggie, so bring a sixer or half pint if you want. Just be careful driving out of campus.

Loud kids, wafting pot smoke, and beer cans everywhere by the tees. No long open drive opportunities. Can feel cramped and if you play it enough times your person or car WILL be pegged by an errant disc. Even with floating discs, you might not even want it back after going into that sewer sludge on holes #4 and #11.

It is what it is. For me it's a fun course that I've been playing on and off for 10 years. I have noticed they've cleaned it up some lately. Consider playing it in the morning on weekdays or during the summer to avoid crowds. The kids out there are surprisingly friendly for the most part though. Not worth driving out of town for, but holds a special place in the hearts of locals like me.

-Nice amateur/medium difficulty course for those trying to get to the next level of play.
-18 holes, 18 baskets. Always a plus.
-Doubles/Singles play Monday and Friday nights, respectively. A few locals run this simply because they love the game. They also sell cheap discs.
-Some very nice holes here. #1 and #5 always jumped out at me as being very well designed. #1 requires a precise RHBH to stay in the fairway and have a chance at a bird, #5 is quite difficult for RH players, as any wayward shot will end up in bad shape and you'll basically have to play back out to the fairway to advance any further. #5 is also a good hole for your Tomahawk throws (bust it out!)

-BUSY. This is the major problem here. During the summer months it gets a bit better, but quite frequently you will have to wait to tee off at #1, and wait at every other hole due to slow, poor college players who don't know how to let you play through.
-The pond is so nasty. Period. If your disc goes in, say goodbye. I hear it used to be a sewage waste dump before the course was put in. I can't confirm that though.
-A lot of nasty terrain - this can be avoided with good drives most of the time, but with any wooded course, the discs kick in weird directions sometimes and you may end up in mud.
-No maintenance whatsoever. This course gets trashed and the only fix it gets is bums picking up all the returnable cans and one guy who empties all the trash cans once or twice a week. #6 and #8 are especially notable - they are right behind the WMU frat houses and are constantly filled with broken glass and other random party foul.
-During the heavy summer months, this course gets a little unfair with all the brush that jumps up. Though I suppose that's common with any wooded course.

-I played my first round ever here and it remains unchanged since the day I played. It is a college course. Take that for what it is. You will run into a large variety of college folk, often drunk, sometimes hopped up on something else altogether. I, as well as most of the local players here don't mind, but a traveling player stopping by for the first time might be a little annoyed.

Many short easy holes to build confidence with.
Interesting layout to get 18 holes in such a small space.
Great course to get you warmed up for some of the other courses in the area.

The park is kind of dirty. There is trash laying around at a lot of the holes.
If you put a disc in the water, forget it. Its gone. That water is nasty.
There are 2 holes that throw directly at the parking lot. Be careful where you park, and be extremely careful of where you throw. It would be very easy to hit a vehicle, either parked or in motion.

All in all, its not a bad course, but it definately is not one you put on a "Must Play" list. If I was in the area again, I wouldn't hesitate to play it again, but I wouldn't go out of my way to do it.

I would compare this course to a short Par3 course in golf. It is fun and quick. It is good for a beginner as distance comes into play on very few holes. So long and straight isn't needed...but what would you expect from a short course. This was also a lot cleaner then I expected from what I had heard of the course, so I was pleased with that.

Tee boxes are dirt and unfortunately a lot of them are eroded to the point that they're not even remotely flat and in some cases roots are popping up in the way. There is not a lot of elevation change except for on the last 4 holes. While I haven't experienced this because I usually player very early in the morning I hear this place can get very busy because it is right on campus.

Fast paced from start to finish. Trees on all sides of all 18 holes make things more technical than some courses. Great for working on you mid range shots as all you really need to play at this course is a Challenger and maybe a Buzzz. Great for an ego booster as shooting 10-15 under par is easily obtainable for anybody that has been playing for a couple of years

Short course provides no chance to work on your drive. Hole #1 being the longest at 270ft. nothing here is out of reach. The water is horendous is a wet stinky sloppy mess. However there are some "Rakists" (RAY-kists) that constantly go in there and retrieve discs although they may charge you a dollar or 2

Numerous people on here keep refering to hole #15 and they all have it wrong. Hole #13 plays 235ft through varying trees with water just 30ft behind it. And hole #14 plays off the road. Hole #15 is a short 155 footer downhill (it plays like a 90 footer)

Short holes and a quick play, but still has its challenging shots. Probably the easiest courses in the Kalamazoo area. There is usually a very friendly and younger crowd playing, so it's a great place to for a beginner to learn without feeling like they are getting in the way of "pros". Only a few elevation changes and blind shots.

This park is not in the greatest of shape. It is frequently dirty, although on the whole it has been cleaner as of late. I have never actually seen players being disrespectful of the course, so I would suspect that the surrounding non-playing neighbors are the more likely culprits of the damage. This course is set in a rather small space right near WMU, and surrounded on 3 sides by apartments and frat-houses.

Very small parking lot, often very full in the mid to late afternoons. Lot is also not well protected from errant throws.

Non-existent signage, and no course map. Local players are usually more than happy to point you in the right direction though, and it is not too hard to figure out on your own.

Tees are natural, and not very well-kept. Dual tees are sporadic and pretty much unnecessary.

All in all, a very fun course despite it's obvious shortcomings.

The pond is quite treacherous and is a frequent disc-eater. Bring a floater, or consider skipping #4 and #11.

great course to just chill with your friends after a day of classes. good variety of left and right hook shots. Forehands and Lefties rejoice. great place to meet new people, as some of the tees overlap to go to their receptive holes.

The Water is extremely hazardous. Watch your disc, but that is really hard with all the damn trees. Can be rather loud with frat village being on 2 sides of the course. Mud and water cover half the course in the spring and fall.

don't be fooled by #15 you can make it through all of the trees and end up in the lake behind. it sucks

Full 18 holes with more co-ed play here than other courses. Good baskets. Easy to follow despite not being marked well. A good hour-long workout with some fun mid-range play. Has some elevation changes. Bench at Hole 6 is a welcome rest stop.

Short holes that reward luck rather than skill in some cases, usually skip holes 4 and 12 around nasty water, bad tee pads throughout are made worse by rain and snow. Lots of trash and graffiti. Nearby apartments and frat houses.

Good for beginners or those with less time, others go elsewhere. Oshtemo completely outclasses this course, but Knollwood can be preferable in high winds. Despite being a short course, discs are easily lost in water holes, swamps or snow cover.

All par 3, to my knowledge. It's pretty easy place to start, a few holes are near water, but are easy to skip if you don't want to go in the water. Can be pretty packed on the weekends being free, and right by a lot of college apartments. People are mostly laid back that play here.

Sometimes you can get pretty backed up with lots of people.
Lots of Leaves in the fall.
Some of the baskets seem to be pretty tall compared to normal.
Worst water ever.

Baskets are pretty nice pretty fun and quick to play if people not to many people playing.