Elevation Change - A scant handful of holes are flat. The rest vary from a modest change that might make you waffle between a couple of discs to steep declines (fun!) and inclines (woof!).

Use of terrain - While elevation change is tied up in this, the course designer did some devilish things with the existing terrain to make holes that much harder. Things like tapering fairways, baskets perched up on little hills, and stepped elevation changes that can make a throw even one foot too high sail past the basket.

Baskets - All of them lovely with all of the holes having a secondary pin location.

Paved teeboxes - every hole has one paved teebox, all of them in good shape.

Signage & Flow - When it's there and in place, it's helpful. Though the course flow makes enough sense that the signage is more confirmation of instincts than anything.

True par 4's - I have beef with holes that are a par "3.5": hard not to throw a 3, essentially impossible to throw a non-miraculous 2. Rolling Knolls has 4 *true* par 4's (though an absolute cannon could probably deuce 8 and 9) and if 17 basket is in the B location then I'd call it a par 3.75. It's a treat to play holes that require two good shots to give you a birdie look. To be fair, neither 8 nor 9 are particularly hard par 4's, but they're not freebies either.

Variety of shots - With the aforementioned par 4's, there are just a lovely variety of looks. Sloping anhyzers, long lasers, blind forehands, and even some "shorties with a gimmick" that will give you more trouble than you bargained for if you don't have your wits about you. It's nice to use most of my bag in a round!

Pretty quiet - This is my wintertime perspective, but I have found Rolling Knolls to be sparsely populated. I bring my dog with me when I play, and she's mostly able to bop about off-leash which is a treat for both of us. The course does touch up against a couple of busy roads and some houses, so you're certainly not alone. There are "watch for walkers" signs on several holes, so perhaps it's busier in the fairer months.

Cart-friendly - Apart from the mud (see below), this would be a nice course for a cart, especially given the elevation change.

Clean - There's a little bit of trash, but this place is in pretty good shape. Always nice to see.

Part of a set - Blackbear DGC is all of a mile away. It's *much* shorter, but it would make for a lovely warmup before coming to Knolls.

Lost disc potential - I haven't played her in fair weather yet, but the reviews and locals all agree: beware of disc loss. I can see how this could be true. Even in the winter, the grass is tall. It's just sparse and beaten down, making it easy to find discs. However, hesitating about throwing something because you might lose it is a crappy feeling.

Muddy - This could be a winter-only thing again, but the mud is pretty gnarly here. With the elevation change, I've slipped a few times and have seen slide marks in the mud. The areas around the boxes, baskets, and paths between holes can be particularly bad. Locals I've talked to have said it's prone to flooding, so it's probably best to avoid here after rainfall.

Signage - The course does flow well, but a few permanent signs would make a difference for first-timers or people with a bad sense of direction. Right now, half the signs have fallen over since they're essentially the same as political yard signs.

Small teeboxes - I'm pretty tall, but I still feel like the teeboxes are about 50% too small for what are some pretty long holes. With the mud around the boxes, stepping onto the box from the side isn't really an option. I seem to put a lot of discs in the air as I try to keep from flying off the end of the box.

Player aids - There are signs at teeboxes, but it isn't always clear if the basket is in the A or B position. Many courses do simple hooks and beads to denote which position it's in. This would be helpful, especially for blind shots. Speaking of, many baskets would benefit from a flag; a few holes are completely blind. The only way you're understanding hole 16 is to walk it first, box to basket, and a little extra info at the box could make it playable without that.

The Little Things - Since this is a multi-use area, there may be reasons why some of these amenities are lacking, but I still missed them. 1 - There aren't really benches, which is a bummer given the elevation changes. 2 - Trash cans are scarce, but that can cut both ways. If people know there are cans then they tend to bring more crap. 3 - No practice basket! For a course with some long holes, a practice basket would be nice. Using 18 basket is tough since it's partially obscured. It would be easy to have somebody throw onto you. There's space for a practice basket, but it might take some landscaping to get it in. 4 - A water fountain and some bathrooms would be nice.

Unguarded baskets - I felt like all of the fun in this course happens off the tee. I don't have beef with that (barring the small boxes), but it's fun to have a guarded basket to contend with. It means there's none of the dreaded spray-and-pray that I despise, but there is a middle ground to be struck.

Rolling Knolls is a solid course. I do feel like it's missing a little… magic, some je ne sais quoi. Maybe it's the missing amenities I mentioned, or maybe it's just the wintertime playing tricks on my mind. It feels like if a club put some work into it and got the city? county? involved to spice it up that it could really become next level. I like a lot of things about this course, but the list of reasons to love it just isn't very long.

Quick aside - A couple of reviews have mentioned that it's just one 18 hole loop. That's true, but it is possible to do 1 - 4 and then 11 - 18 to create a shorter loop. It cuts out three of the par 4's which cuts both ways: much shorter but you miss those fun holes.

I always end my reviews with the question: "What would my game be like if this were my home course, playing it 2-5 times a month." Fun twist! I just moved to the area and now this IS my home course! Well, one of them. Black Bear is just as close but not as fun IMO. In any case, if I continue to play this course regularly then I think I would end up with a reasonably well-rounded game. I would get excellent practice off the teebox with putters, mids, fairway drivers, and distance drivers. I'd have to practice good control with all of these and have a decent long-range turnover RHBH. My approaches would probably be nothing special but not bad; the holes are mostly forgiving. My putting would probably develop well, particularly at range since the baskets are unguarded. I probably wouldn't have much need to develop my straddle putts or forehand putts, but if I wanted to work on those things during rounds then I could. Though it would be low-stakes practicing.

If you are in the area and have a morning or afternoon to spend disc golfing, I'd totally recommend going to Blackbear for a warmup round (45 - 75 mins) and then coming to Rolling Knolls to cap off the trip (60 - 90 mins (playing alone I do it in under an hour)). You won't regret it!

Nice use of an old golf course, flow of course is very nice. I love the elevation changes throughout the course. Open fairways with minimal obstacles, exception is on holes 12 & 13 and water on 18. Nice mix of pars and distances on holes.

Wouldn't play if one is "just" starting out to play. Brush, once has leaves, could mean lost disc(s).

I agree course is designed for intermediate to experience players, but as a beginner player it was nice to come out for the challenge.

- some of the best elevation change in the Chicago area
- good mix of uphill and downhill shots, with some level, but most having a hill in play somehow
- respectable natural beauty, though falls short of top tier courses
- concrete tees
- many technically challenging holes, but playable fairways and some more opens hots
- excellent high visibility orange DGA baskets
- most holes have good next tee signage
- navigation is pretty straightforward
- well maintained park with mowed fairways and reasonable rough
- every hole has 2 pin placements (only 1 basket in at a time)
- excellent full color tee signs with accurate maps
- good mix of hole lengths
- 10 and 13 are particularly unique and take advantage of uphill/downhill shots

- a few safety issues such as cutting across hole 8 fairway to get to hole 9
- shares space with walking paths, which could potentially be dangerous
- no practice basket
- no garbage cans throughout course, only one bench i noticed on 13
- longest holes are interesting and not just long for the sake of being long

Rolling Knolls is aptly named, with some of the best rolling hills I've seen in the Chicago area. This is a very good course, but for me it wasn't quite great - right around the 3.75 level, and in my opinion just slightly overrated. It's missing some of the nicer amenities (bathrooms, water fountain, garbage and benches, practice basket) of top tier courses, but I can overlook most of that. I think a little more variety and taking advantage of water hazards a bit more might bump this up for me.

There is one ditch i saw that is a pseudo water hazard but doesn't come into play much. There is also a large lake/creek that isn't much of a factor, but I suspect it might be over the property line, unfortunately. You can see this from hole 13, which was probably my favorite hole - a great downhill shot to the basket a bit short of the lake. It's only 215', but I enjoy some of these downhill shots. Hole 18 also throws over water but at 196' it isn't an especially high risk.

I also thought hole 10 was really cool, but saying I enjoyed it might be a stretch. It's probably one of the steepest uphill holes I've ever played, and I think it was my only 5 on the day. It definitely forces you to make solid uphill shots at an angle I've rarely had to pull out.

The few safety issues here didn't come into play much, but they should be noted. At least one hole cuts back across its own fairway to get to the next basket (8 to 9) and in general, there are walking trails all over the course. I didn't see a single person on these, but if someone was unfortunate enough to get near an errant throw, it could be bad. Otherwise, the park is devoted to disc golf, which is great.

Natural beauty here is average for the Chicago area, and there is a mix of open and wooded shots, with some very long ones that play more like the old golf course this used to be. The elevation change makes up for the lack of natural variety in Chicago. I think the course designer used the space available very well to make an intriguing course.

One nit that isn't really the fault of the course - when I was trying to play hole 18, a few guys were using the basket as a practice basket, since it's near hole 1's tee. This is bound to happen with no practice basket, but these guys putted forever with me standing there waiting to tee off and couldn't be bothered to let me finish my round. Again, not really an issue with the course, but a reminder to follow basic course etiquette.

There are plenty of complaints in the reviews about this course being a "disc eater" and having thick rough. Admittedly I played this course in April so things weren't especially overgrown, but I didn't have this issue at all. I suspect some of the people who had issues here haven't played some of the most challenging wooded courses out there. I played solo and felt the rough was pretty reasonable here.

The tees, tee signs, and baskets here were all great. I think from 3 to 4 is the only place I had some navigation challenge, and I think the next tee sign may have disappeared. Some of them are temporary signs in the ground and some are permanent, so making the rest permanent would be an improvement. I enjoyed playing this course, but it didn't quite have the X factor for me vs. some I've played recently. It's definitely worth a bit of a drive if you're in the area. It beats most area courses and there are several others very close by if you want to make a day of it.

Five true par 4s over undulating fairway shots. Hole 1, 2 and 3 warm you up with moderate distance...and then the hills kick in to full gear. Long downhill drives and then long uphill drives leaves players fully challenged to keep their disc in the fairway. After the hills, you get five technical holes, followed by two mid-long par 4s leading up to the final water shot on 18. Each hole seemed to have a choice of lines with respect to trees. Grasses were surprisingly defined with appropriate landing zones, even in these early days.

A fun play. Interesting layout, unlike others in the Chicago area. Well designed flow. Nice parking lot.

Continued trimming and sculpting of greens and landing zones is needed. Trimming and flattening of fairways formerly containing heavy brush would improve playability and promote safety. Thorns and thistles could be removed in certain areas. Could use a practice area and basket.

For a brand new course, Rolling Knolls already shows promise of being a destination. Within five minutes of Black Bear, and ten minutes from Shady, this triangle makes for a very productive disc golf day.