Knollwood Club

Few clubs in the Chicago area carry the quiet prestige of Knollwood. Founded in the early 20th century, the club has long been a fixture in Lake Forest's tight-knit private golf culture — a North Shore institution that has earned its reputation through understated excellence rather than tournament fanfare. The course was designed by Seth Raynor, which immediately places it in rarefied company: Raynor's template holes, drawn from the classical designs of C.B. Macdonald, give Knollwood a strategic depth that rewards study and punishes complacency. Expect boldly contoured greens, heroic carries, and holes that look deceptively manageable until the card tells a different story.