knightsbrook golf club??

vinny18

just wondering has anyone played knightsbrook lately?? i am going to be playing it soon and am curious to find out if it has a good reputation

jimjo

First up its long, get used to hitting a drive and a rescue or 4/5/6 iron into the par 4’s. I was playing it on a flat calm day so can only imagine what’s it like when the wind gets up. At times it did get a little monotonous with a driver and another big club to the green, but cant really complain.

Christy O’Connor designed it and there’s moulding everywhere, he’s gone to town on it. The fairways are wide open so it’s a diver’s paradise and even if you do stray you’ll be onto the next fairway which isn’t too bad if you get me.

All in all I enjoyed my round there, oh yeah found the greens fantastic, they were mental quick but so true, absolutely cracking to putt on. Think their doing a deal during the winter months of €25 a round but you can always get a good deal on teetimes.ie.

Anyone know are they still charging a crazy amount for membership?? Last I heard it was €15,000

Anyway enjoy!

Kevinmarkham

vinny18 wrote: »

just wondering has anyone played knightsbrook lately?? i am going to be playing it soon and am curious to find out if it has a good reputation

Anyone who has my book knows I am not a fan of Knightsbrook - Jimjo says it perfectly. It's a big course that will wear you out unless you're playing a blinder.

Howjoe1

Played it a few times now. Most of the par 4s require two big hits to reach. Played in a 4 ball last time and not one of us could hole a put. these are the truest and fastest greens i've played and nearest thing i imagine to pro greens.

Worth a visit imho. Agree membership fee is way off the mark in current times.

jimjo

Kevinmarkham wrote: »

Anyone who has my book knows I am not a fan of Knightsbrook - Jimjo says it perfectly. It's a big course that will wear you out unless you're playing a blinder.

Believe it or not Kevin I was on a blinder that day in all (22 points after 9), the putter was switched on for a change! Yeah prepare yourself, its a long and an open course. Thinking about it with the colder temp and little or no run on the wet fairways it'll play even longer from when I played it on a lovely summers day (yes we did have one or two! )

thoscon

played it a few times aswell.its a lovely course agree that the holes are long but enjoyed it all the same.greens are excellent very fast.
its forgiving for wayward driving ,we played it with a 28 handicap and he always was out on the other fairways.
last time i played asked the pro bout membership he reckons its goin down to €5000 entry fee after xmas

lemon head

super super course! Greens are lightening fast. The par 4s are reachable i think, yes you do need to put the ball in the fairway and long from the tee. A driver and a 6-7-8 iron will do the trick for the long par 4s.

Shot a 85 there couple months ago even with a triple bogey at the last hole which is a par 3 which in my view stupid!!

Lots of great holes. My favourite par 5 hole 5.

Enjoy it!!:):)

Machman

Playing & staying there in a couple of weeks. Looking forward to it. Will be playing Royal Tara as well, haven't played that either. I have player all the other local courses around there, Trim, Headfort x 2, etc.

Sean_pop

I'm thinking about playing Knightsbrook. I wonder is it as good in 2014 as it was in 2009??? Any one played it recently????

Macker1

Not played it since late last year and I felt it had deteriorated since a few years back. The membership base is reduced and the high fees of the mad years are gone. Based on that like other clubs costs have had to be reduced and this has to have had an effect on any course.

blue note

I played it about 3 weeks ago. Played as well as I've ever played - 43 points! But I wouldn't rank it too highly as a course. It's long, but there's basically no danger off the tee. And I think the water is wasted on the course. I don't think there's anyplace where you'd "take on" the water. You pretty much need a mi**** to end up in it.

Anyway, enjoy yourself!

Sean_pop

I just saw it on just treats website that you can get 2 greens fees and buggy for €49.

Johnny_Fontane

interesting comments!

Im a member there, so better just state that!

Regarding the condition of the course, played it yesterday, its in good nick. Poleforking completed about 3 weeks ago and greens are rolling well. Needs some growth in the rough, but every course has that.

Plenty of trouble off the tee in Knightsbrook!! The rough is down at the moment (again like most courses), but it wont be long in coming back. In the last few years, they have let the 'second cut' just go. So you have fairway, rough and then ball gone. It really shapes holes beautifully, but means that if you go badly off line, well, its reload.

I agree slightly about the water, but the fact is is that water is in play on 12 holes. Going left is not good in knightsbrook, that can mean splashes on 4,7,11,15,17 off the tee outside of the par 3's which are all over water.

Knightsbrook is long, no doubt about it, and sometimes it breaks my soul when I go through spells of not getting the ball off the tee. But I think for the rates that people are paying for golf, its seriously good value. Its also in great nick. Sure it was a bit rough there in March, but what course wasnt.

Johnny_Fontane

Macker1 wrote: »

Not played it since late last year and I felt it had deteriorated since a few years back. The membership base is reduced and the high fees of the mad years are gone. Based on that like other clubs costs have had to be reduced and this has to have had an effect on any course.

funnily enough the membership has gone up considerably since 2009. Its now around the 270 mark, it was as low as 150. they got a whole heap of people from navan this year aswell.

Macker1

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

funnily enough the membership has gone up considerably since 2009. Its now around the 270 mark, it was as low as 150. they got a whole heap of people from navan this year aswell.

My comment was based on what I was told by another Knightsbrook member that I played with during an open last year. My brother was also a member back during the boom times and paid mad money to join (imho). It certainly seemed to be in top notch condition back then but like a number of premium courses the work to maintain them at the highest levels whilst operating on a reduced income in these fiscally challenged times is tough.

It represents great value at its current membership rates.

Tones69

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

funnily enough the membership has gone up considerably since 2009. Its now around the 270 mark, it was as low as 150. they got a whole heap of people from navan this year aswell.

270? Thats seriously cheap. Played 2 years ago, nice course. 18th is a peach! Wrecked many a good score id say

dar_cool

Tones69 wrote: »

270? Thats seriously cheap. Played 2 years ago, nice course. 18th is a peach! Wrecked many a good score id say

270 members not 270 euro ha ha

Tones69

dar_cool wrote: »

270 members not 270 euro ha ha

Ohhhh right not many at all is it, nice course

Felexicon

Playing here for the first time tomorrow. Went with the Just Treats voucher. Glad to hear it's in good condition.
Unfortunately I'm fond of a slice and as left handed I fear I'll be finding the water a bit.
Will report back after the round.


First impressions are good though. Rang the pro shop to book the tee time and the guy I spoke to was a gent.

Felexicon

Played it today in glorious weather conditions but have to be honest and say I was not blown away by the place.

Every Par 4 and 5 is a driver off the tee to a wide open fairway. No thought needs to be put in to the shots, just grip it and rip it.
Fairways are in good condition and there was no noticeable soggy patches in the rough.
One thing I didn't like was that they have left the grass cuttings on the rough and one or two balls were lost because of this (found 3 when looking for one of mine so obviously affecting everyone).
The Par 3s are all beautifully laid out with water in play on all of them.

One big draw back is the state of the greens. They have been hollow thinned and are recovering nicely but the amount of pitch marks that are unrepaired on nearly every green was annoying after the 5th or 6th hole.

All in all it was an enjoyable if forgettable round of golf and I'd definitely rate Tulfarris which I played on Friday ahead of it

Benny Cake

Felexicon wrote: »

Played it today in glorious weather conditions but have to be honest and say I was blown away by the place.

Every Par 4 and 5 is a driver off the tee to a wide open fairway. No thought needs to be put in to the shots, just grip it and rip it.
Fairways are in good condition and there was no noticeable soggy patches in the rough.
One thing I didn't like was that they have left the grass cuttings on the rough and one or two balls were lost because of this (found 3 when looking for one of mine so obviously affecting everyone).
The Par 3s are all beautifully laid out with water in play on all of them.

One big draw back is the state of the greens. They have been hollow thinned and are recovering nicely but the amount of pitch marks that are unrepaired on nearly every green was annoying after the 5th or 6th hole.

All in all it was an enjoyable if forgettable round of golf and I'd definitely rate Tulfarris which I played on Friday ahead of it

Theres one very important word missing from your first sentence...

Felexicon

Giving this place a second chance tomorrow. Should be in top condition this time of year

Sean_pop

Felexicon wrote: »

Giving this place a second chance tomorrow. Should be in top condition this time of year

Played it in June. I thought it was nice course. Report back with your opinion on the course!!!

shaneon77

Felexicon wrote: »

Giving this place a second chance tomorrow. Should be in top condition this time of year

I'm a member there and the place is in tip top shape. The greens were top dressed but rolling very well. Please let me know what you think. Its playing relatively short with the dry fairways. Bunkers are quite heavy with the recent torrential rains but other than that its good.
Don't be saying its easy unless you shoot 36points + off the white tees. But most importantly enjoy.

sofireland

I'm a member here.
Came over from Navan
Not played in a few weeks but course was in great nick Saturday tho bunkers out of play due to rain
Greens very fast. Huge greens. The length is the biggest thing I've been trying to get used to

Felexicon

Just in the door now. 2hours 40 minutes fir the 2 ball to get round (we had a buggy)

First off I have to the guy in the pro shop is a joy to deal with. So often when you go places as a visitor you just get a grunt of acknowledgement when paying fees and the like but this guy was full of chat and wished us good luck for the round.

I played alot better this time out and that is probably a contributing factor to why I found the round more enjoyable this time.
The greens are in very good condition the whole way round. I found the bunkers( at least the 5 or 6 I was in) were in very good shape and had plenty of sand in them.
Really enjoyed the par 3s again but some of the par 4s stood out for me, 2 and 15 in particular.
All in all an enjoyable round and a grand way to spend a Friday afternoon with the aul lad

Running Balance

Felexicon wrote: »

Just in the door now. 2hours 40 minutes fir the 2 ball to get round (we had a buggy)

First off I have to the guy in the pro shop is a joy to deal with. So often when you go places as a visitor you just get a grunt of acknowledgement when paying fees and the like but this guy was full of chat and wished us good luck for the round.

didto for this played there last year when home. Me and my buddy arrived 50 mins before the rest of the 4ball. The guy let us out to play 4 or 5 holes for free to kill the time. Fair sound..

sodbuster77

I've always enjoyed Knightsbrook, probably because I usually play well there. Course has always been in great condition anytime I've played it and the staff are very pleasant to deal with. It's one of the first courses on our society list every year too!

Benny Cake

Its a nice track and I would agree with whats been said above regarding the level of customer service offered... However, it suffers when compared against other courses in the area like Rathcore, Headford, Moyvalley.

Still worth a round here, especially as the often have good offers online...

billy3sheets

Played Knightsbrook yesterday for 2nd time. Last time I played was a year ago and it was a blustery day with rain and hail, so it was good to re-visit on a calm warm afternoon.
The greens are recovering from pole forking so the putting was a bit random as a result. Overall it was in good condition. There were a few soggy patches here and there between greens and tee boxes bu the fairways were fine apart from the 11th which is heavily sanded.

At 6891 yards, it's a long course when played off white tees. Every par 4 and 5 is wide open and suited to a driver so it's fun if you like to grip it and rip it but it lacks variety as a result. There's not much run on the fairways yet, so I found that even with a good drive, mostly my second shots were from 180 - 220 out and required another wood. I've never hit so few irons in a game!

The par 3s are pleasing aesthetically and are a nice variety of distances and not too long.

The vice-captain's drive in was held in the morning so there were quite a few members around and there seemed to be a good buzz around the place. The brief interactions I had with members and staff were pleasant.
We ate in the hotel afterwards. While it looked a bit expensive, the quality of the food and service were excellent.

Overall a very pleasant experience. I'd definitely return. It's a long hitters course and I'd probably enjoy probably it more playing off the shorter green tees.

slave1

Great course, personally I don't like those rock encrusted 'water hazards" that run across a fairway or two...

thoscon

Playing there tomorrow looking forward to it
Lovely course

Danny dyers double

Lovely course but as an 18hc I find it too long . Driver and 3 wood on most par 4s start to get boring .

Golfgraffix

I have to say its a course I never warmed to, I have always found it quite dull. One good hole, the 15th I think ? You have to hit through the trees and water on the right all the way to the green.

It could be one of those courses that when it matures it might be nice. Of the two O'Connor courses that open around the same time I think that Roganstown is better course in terms of design and strategy but both would be similar in condition.

J

BOB81

Resurrecting an old thread but are there any knightsbrook members on here who would like to share their opinions of the course and club in general?

Just looking to get a sense of how busy the time-sheet is for comps, how open things are for new members (just put your name down on a line or is it regular groups always playing together) and what kind of condition the course is in during the winter months (maybe during "regular" winter months rather than currently as the last 4 weeks have not been typical weather thankfully!)

Any input or opinions gratefully received

shaneon77

Hi bob, I am a member there currently. I have to say that it is a continually improving course and club. The green staff are excellent and there is always improvements being made. The timesheet is usually was enough to get onto. Competitions run on sat and sun mornings and into the afternoon during the summer. It is a good winter course and also a good summer course. Everything is well maintained and the facilities are high end. It does lack a range though.