Green with Envy, A Tale of Unrivaled Golf

The Westin Kierland Golf Club’s elevated golf experience meets savvy innovation with an ever-evolving collection of one-of-a-kind programs and exciting, all-new ways to play

A look at The Westin Kierland Golf Club’s stunning Acacia course that features rolling greens set against the beautiful desert mountain backdrop.
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With thousands of courses across the nation and hundreds in the Grand Canyon state – each course unique in its own respective footprint, aesthetic and personality – what makes one golf experience stand out over another? 

We live in a world where agronomists bring vibrancy to life with blade-by-blade cultivation, where golf course architects design greens that boast picture-perfect vistas, and where the sport’s continued evolution regularly yields new equipment, technique and even cheering methods. 

So, how do we determine which course will have the honor of donning the green jacket? Naturally that depends on the golfer and their particular preferences, as each course fits its players differently.  

At The Westin Kierland Golf Club that notion of uniqueness is celebrated, even championed. Golfers may not always hit a fairway or sink a putt, but at The Westin Kierland Golf Club guests are consistently met with an elevated golf experience rich in innovation, one-of-a-kind offerings and pure fun.  

A centerpiece on The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa’s 250 acres in North Scottsdale, The Westin Kierland Golf Club presents a thoughtfully distinctive, award-winning brand of golf that has seduced locals and out-of-towners alike for many years. 

Designed by Scott Miller, the Golf Club features a dramatic 27-hole course touted as one of the best resort courses in Arizona from design, agronomic and playability standpoints. The course offers a complementary collection of three nines – each named for an indigenous tree (Acacia, Ironwood and Mesquite) with its own flavor and strategy, yet all equally enjoyable and challenging – across perfectly manicured rolling greens dappled with more than 200 bunkers, a series of serene lakes and dry desert washes, and stunning Sonoran flora and fauna. 

Renowned for its ever-evolving innovations, the Golf Club features a bevy of first-of-its-kind offerings with a robust portfolio of golf advancements that extend well beyond what is par for the course. Leading the pack, the Golf Club’s fleet of golf transportation choices present means of greens passage that are equal parts fun and functional while also state-of-the-art and exceptionally rare. 

Home to Golfboards, golf bikes, Segway golf and four-seater family-friendly golf carts, the Golf Club newly welcomes Kierland TurfRiders – a two-wheeled scooter made for cruising the course both on and off cart paths thanks to light weight and large, turf-friendly tires. With a space for golf bags securely situated at the rear and an 18 mph setting, the Kierland TurfRider signals a new era in the way courses are navigated, alongside the Golf Club’s recently debuted Shark Experience technology. 

Proudly at the forefront of the innovation and technology intersection, The Westin Kierland Golf Club is the first Arizona golf course to install Shark Experience to its golf carts, now featuring the technology’s high-definition touch screen displays and built-in speakers with Bluetooth connectivity. 

Retaining a long history of firsts, the Golf Club revolutionized golf fitness training with its exclusive FORE-MAX program designed to improve accuracy and driving distance off the tee with a highly personalized workout program. Developed by The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa’s Fitness Director Steve Heller, the truly one-of-a-kind training system centers around three distinct areas of emphasis: flexibility, functional golf strength and aerobic conditioning. 

To complete the superb training experience, the Golf Club serves up a trio of LaBauve golf instructors: husband-and-wife team Mike and Sandy LaBauve, and their daughter Lindy LaBauve, PGA.

In reaching beyond the ordinary across all touchpoints, The Westin Kierland Golf Club inspires golfers to engage in the kid in all of us with programs like the Scottish Golf experience, featuring authentic Scottish kilt rentals, scotch beverage carts, and a bagpiper who serves to “call in” golfers after a great game. Fun for golfers of all ages to enjoy, the Golf Club’s Friday Night Lights program provides a spirited Friday evening series, including golf games and prizes – like lime putting to win margaritas or soft drinks – SNAG® golf for kids, clinics led by course pros, music, and adult and kid-friendly beverage cart service and more. 

Because before and after the game are at times as equally important as the game itself, the Golf Club’s clubhouse hosts Brittlebush Bar & Grill, and the elevated Golf Shop, a recipient of many notable accolades, most recently earning the title as one of the “Top 100 Golf Shops” in the United States by the Association of Golf Merchandisers. The Golf Shop’s recent award joins a lengthy list of honorary titles for the Golf Club, including having been named “2017 Arizona Golf Course of the Year” by the National Golf Course Owners Association of Arizona, one of the “Top 10 Public Courses in Phoenix/Scottsdale” by Golf Advisor and one of “America’s 9 Most Cheerful Golf Courses” by Golf Digest.

There may be a multitude of courses from which to choose, but there is undeniably no course that is quite like that of The Westin Kierland Golf Club.