Kierland Golf Club
January 17, 2008
Another of Scottsdale's fine courses open to the public. Designed by Scott Miller and managed by Troon Golf, this facility boasts three distinctive nine hole golf courses, named after the dominant vegetation on each, Mesquite, Ironwood and Acacia. A bit different from any other desert golf experience you will find in Scottsdale as it is considered a Parklands course, yet it also incorporates desert terrain making it the first of it's kind in Scottsdale.
Emerald green fairways are in direct contrast to the natural desert grasses comprising the rough, with elevation changes that will surprise you. The course features almost perfect tif-eagle, bermuda greens protected by plenty of bunkering. There are more than three hundred bunkers laid strategically amongst the three courses, each offering it's own risk-reward approaches. There are lakes, dry desert washes, Mesquite, Palo Verde and many other colorful desert flora.
At Kierland Golf Club, following the Troon Golf mantra, each guest is treated as a member. Customer service is second to none and the staff is first rate. It is also home to the Golf Digest Golf School under the direction of Mike and Sandy LaBauve, two VERY knowledgeable golf instructors and VERY nice people. I have known them both for over 20 years and they are just about a Scottsdale institution all to themselves. The club also offers a state-of-the-art teaching and practice facility, a beautiful clubhouse/pro shop/restaurant decorated in Southwest motif, complemented by a first-class pro shop. 
One of the many things I like about Kierland is it's central location in North Scottsdale. This happens to be a facility located in the neighborhood where I live and is just a block west of Scottsdale Rd at Greenway-Hayden Loop. Shop at Barnes & Noble, Tommy Bahamas, Artifax, Smith & Hawken or any of the other wonderful shops located there. Dine at great restaurants like PF Changs, Mortens Steakhouse, Ocean Club and a slew of others. It's a great place to stroll and people watch.
My favorite nine hole course at Kierland is the Acacia course. It starts out with a great par 5 and ends with an even better one. From the tee atop the ninth hole you can see forever the elevation here is a unique feature about this part of Scottsdale. This is particularly true of the Acacia course at Kierland. You would never know it until you were out on the course that there were that many elevation changes and that makes for some fun golf, especially holes like #9 where you have a downhill tee shot that feels like a hundred foot drop to the fairway. Ironwood and Mesquite are great courses as well but without the dramatic elevation changes of Acacia.
Kierland Golf Club 15636 N. Clubgate Drive, Scottsdale, Arizona 85254
