Played my annual birthday round this morning with LEWGVLINSURANCE. Teed off at 7:30 a.m. and never saw another group ahead or behind us. Cart path only due to overseeding of fairways, so we took our time and still finished before 11:00 a.m. Course was in very nice shape, still a thin layer of sand on the greens, but it didn't affect our putting. There was plenty of sand in the traps I visited so no complaints there. The grass on some of the tee boxes was a little long, but again, didn't affect play.

I'm finding that the more I play this course, the more I like it. Course knowledge makes for a more enjoyable round. One of the things I like about the layout is the variety in length of the par 3's. I played 5 iron, 7 iron, 9 iron and 3 hybrid on the 4 par threes.

I'm looking forward to the completion of the new clubhouse - should be finished around April.

Played today with miguelgolf2007. Fear, and billclark2594. 12:00 tee time, but they got us out 20 minutes early. No one in front of us until we got to hole #9. Finished in 4 hours - my fastest afternoon round ever at an L.A. City course. I figure the fast pace was due to the upcoming holiday and the ridiculous rate they now charge non-residents on Fridays.

Course was in nice shape, but the greens are very slow and a little bumpy. Looks like a golf course again after all the construction. Unfortunately no cart girl, so it is important in this heat to load up with liquids at the turn. Congrats to billclark2594 for shooting an even par 72 - watch out at the upcoming Simi Hills outing - he's playing!

Played here on Friday with miguelgolf2007, Aikidomon, and Fear. Course was in nice shape and they have brand new carts! No more pushing the cart up the hill on 18 anymore....

Teed off right on time...round started off slowly....looked like it would take us well over 6 hours, but the pace picked up on the back and we finished in 5:19....quick round on a Friday for Knollwood.

The cart girl, Gabby, was her usual busy, friendly self,....we rarely went more than two or three holes between seeing her...thank you!

Played today at noon with Fear and miguelgolf2007. Round took 5 hours.

This is a great course if you want to get some confidence back in your driver. No frills, pretty wide open, but the length keeps it challenging.

Hard to get into too much trouble here - each player in our group finished the round with the same ball they started with. Fear, miguel, and I all finished with the same score - 83. (our 4th shot a 76 - I'm hopin' he'll join greenskeeper and will join us at some of the GK Outings).

The greens were in good shape and pretty consistent - our group only had a couple of 3-putts.

Fun day, beautiful weather, great company!

Played here for the first time for the GK Staff outing on 5/22. I absolutely love this course. Lots of variety, great conditions and amazing views. First class facility. The restroom buildings on the course are better than most clubhouse facilities!

We played the Ridgeline/Creekside nines. This course was tough, but not brutal. If you stay out of trouble, par is no problem. I made 9 pars for my round. Unfortunately for me, you have to count the other 9 holes. The ESA's on this course gobble up wayward drives - hence 4 double bogies and 2 snowmen (ouch!). I did venture off the fairway down toward one of the creeks to look for one of my wayward drives - and found a golf ball graveyard. Came back up with 11 golf balls. Misery obviously loves company on this course.

The par threes are generally pretty long, but several of them are downhill. I especially like the 9th on Ridgeline - a long carry over a pond with the clubhouse in the background.

The weather was pretty good except for the short thundershower that had us taking refuge in one of the restroom facilities. Of course, it wouldn't be one of JohnnyGK's outings if we didn't get a little wet :-0.

Uncrowded conditions made for a very enjoyable round. The company of the 7 other GK staffers wasn't bad either :-).

Played today with miguelgolf2007, Aikidomon, and the man himself, JohnnyGk. Before we played we ran into fellow GKers deano, Randy_o, Big_Al, and Lewgvlinsurance as they were finishing their round. I always enjoy playing here - interesting layout and reasonable price ($29.00 green fees). Everything was in good condition with the exception of the tee box for hole #4. Overall this was the best condition I've seen for this course. Pace of play was considerably slower than normal - our round took well over 5 hours. Keep your eyes open for a GK casual outing at this course - I'm going to try to arrange something for later this year or sometime next year.

Played here for the first time on 3/29 on an invitation from member marksawyer to play in a small tournament with his SCGA affiliate group "R Golf Club". I was a little nervous playing in a tournament at a course I'd never played and with guys I'd never met, so I got there early to scope things out. I went to talk to the starter and he was very friendly - I wish all courses had someone like that to make you feel welcome and get your day off to a good start.

I finally spot Mark (from his profile photo) and go over to introduce myself and there are not one, not two, but three guys talking to Mark that I recognize, not from golf, but from one of my recreation basketball leagues - they are all referees! D'oh! No calling fouls on me I didn't commit - this is a golf tournament. I had a great time playing with this group.

Back to the review - I love this course. If it wasn't so dang slow and 45 miles away, I would put it on my regular rotation. The whole facility is well layed out, the staff friendly and it was just so relaxing playing golf in a quiet park-like setting. Lots of trees, undulating fairways, strategically placed bunkers, elevated greens, and a view of the mountains to the north. Greens were a little bumpy, but about what you would expect for a course that gets this much play.

Because the course is essentially level, there was no chance to really get a hold of one of those downhill with the wind drives that I love. I did however win my very first long drive contest and took home some cash. Like I always say, drive for show, drive for dough!

Played in the GK outing on 2/22/08. This is a really nice facility and the staff was friendly. Parking was really convenient - no long haul to the club house. Driving range is also very conveniently located near the 1st tee. I really enjoyed playing the course, despite the wet conditions. Some of the views are really spectacular.

I somehow managed to play this tough course without a 7 on my scorecard, and finished with my lowest GK Casual outing score of 92. Fairways were often very tight, with trouble on both sides, but it didn't stop me from pulling out the big dog on every hole - I was even able to launch a 335+ yard drive on the tight par 5 #13 fairway with the help of the downhill slope. The elevation changes and wind however usually got the better of me as I misclubbed several approach shots.

Hopefully we can make it back to this course under better weather conditions - the "Cart Path Only" rule seemed to significantly slow play...and we weren't able to fully utilize the really cool GPS system in the carts since our shots were often so far away from the cart path.

Thank you again to the great staff at this course - if greenskeeper comes back, I'll be there.

Played here on 2/15 with rtewfik, Fear, and h8bogeys. The course is still undergoing renovation to the cartpaths and irrigation system, but I knew that going in. The course was not overly crowded and we teed off right on time (if not a few minutes early).

The starter had temporary scorecards which actually showed the holes we would be playing. Hole #3 was closed, Hole #11 used the green to the left and a par 3 was added to the end, utilizing Hole #11's normal green. On hole #2, the tees were pushed pretty far forward so this par 5 played more like a par 4. The construction didn't really affect play much, though we did occasionally have to wait for construction vehicles to move. I actually enjoyed the temporary changes to the course. Normally I don't like ending on a par 3, but I made a 30 footer for a "routine" birdie, so no complaints this time. Plus, this added par 3 at the end has you finish right next to the parking lot instead of a quarter mile away. The alternate green for #11 made the hole a tad short for a par 4 (265 yards) as my drive ended up on the back fringe - definitely wait (as we did) for the green to clear before teeing off on this hole.

Of the 4 L.A. City courses in the San Fernando Valley, this course has the most elevation changes. Got a good workout pushing my Clicgear cart up some of the hills. The greens were okay, though I did experience some mystery breaks right at the cup. The fairways were in better condition than Woodley or Balboa/Encino. I was always hitting off of grass (on those rare occasions when I found myself in the fairway). I only visited one sand trap (hole #4) and there was plenty of dry sand, so I was able to hit a soft shot pretty close to the pin.

Had a fun time, it was great to finally play a round with h8bogeys. I shot my best score at this course and was able lower my handicap by a whopping 0.1 points.

Played on Christmas day with miguelgolf2007, his friend Ron, and a walk-on, Lawrence. This was my first time playing here since they lengthened two holes to bring the course up to par 72 (now 37-35) from par 70. Unfortunately, the scorecards and yardage markers for the two holes have not been updated yet to match the course, and the holes are still under construction. My Skycaddie also still has the old info. The weather was windy and cold and there were fallen leaves and branches everywhere. So much so that it was difficult finding a golf ball, even in the fairway.

The greens and tee boxes were in very good shape, the fairways so-so. The new greens for holes #3 and #12 were pristine.

Hole #3 used to be a boring short par 4, not it's a really nice short par 5. I reached the green in two - into the wind. Too bad I missed my 10 foot eagle putt (I wasn't even close), then missed the birdie too. Oh well....I suck.

Hole #12 I reached the green in regulation - but oops - wrong green. I'm glad they made this into a par 5, because it used to be a monster par 4.

Anyway...a fun day...but the wind made scoring difficult.

Played Simi Hills on 12/14/07. 11:40 tee time, but didn't tee off until 11:50 or so. 5 hour round. Shot 43-49=92 which is about what I usually shoot on this course, though I usually shoot better on the back than on the front. Birdied #9 after hitting the flagstick with my approach. The driver was working pretty good today (hit a 320 yard drive on #6) as was the putting, but everything in between was horrible. Played the entire round with the same ball - even found it twice in water hazards. First time playing with "Fear" - once he shelved his driver his scoring improved dramatically. Miguelgolf2007 had way too much fun in the sand on hole #17. yoondaman316 was his usual steady self, though it was nice to see him have to pull out the wallet at the end of the round even if it was only for $2.00. Course was in so-so condition. The fairways and tee boxes were pretty brown, but the greens were pretty good. The range ball machine wasn't working, though they somehow made arrangements for people to hit balls. Special thanks to the snack bar lady - I'm a vegetarian - she happily made me a vegetarian sandwich even though it wasn't on the menu.

Played on August 31st in 108 degree heat. I loved the condition of the fairways as I never had a bad lie. The best fairways I've seen this year. The greens are very, very, very slow. We started right on time and finished in about 4:45, so the pace was decent. The par 3's are all long - quite a challenge. I like the variation in the length of the par 4's. The next time I play there I'm going to get there early and take advantage of the large practice area - two chipping areas, three huge practice greens. The driving range tees were covered which really helped given the heat. Most of the range is dirt, so the range balls were a little dirty. I just wish the driving range and parking lots were a little closer to the first tee - I had my cart bag with all my cr*p in it and it weighed a ton. Next time I'll bring my stand bag and take out the non-essentials. This course is definitely worth the money, especially if you don't mind the slow greens.