Westin Kierland Resort & Spa – Ironwood Acacia Course

Experience an unparalleled golf experience in the Sonoran Desert at the Westin Kierland Golf Club. Our 27-hole course features three nines, each showcasing their own distinct character. Designed by renowned Scottsdale golf architect Scott Miller, the sweeping scenery creates challenges of its own. Play around serene lakes, dry desert washes and flowering Arizona flora and fauna. Our Golf Club is pleased to feature a number of unique enhancements, including a fleet of golf transports ranging from Golfboards, bikes, Segways, family-friendly golf carts and Kierland TurfRiders. Certified by the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program, Kierland Golf Club was named “2017 Arizona Golf Course of the Year” by the National Golf Course Owners Association of Arizona and one of “America’s 9 Most Cheerful Golf Courses” by Golf Digest.

Ironwood, a par 36 at 3,539 yards, is a combo-platter. It has some of Acacia’s signature mounding but also more of a links feel that makes it arguably the most player-friendly of the three tracks.

Ironwood’s signature hole is No. 9, a 495-yard par 5 that’s a classic risk-reward. Big hitters can go for the green in two, but the putting surface is protected by a lake to the right and sand traps to the left. Hit in the water, and par likely is gone. Hit in the bunkers, and a downhill sand shot awaits with the water beckoning from the other side of the green.

Acacia course, a par 36 that stretches to 3,435 yards, is the best of the three nines primarily because of its last four holes.

No. 6 is a 190-yard par 3 to an elevated green, No. 7 is a short, 374-yard par 4 that looks benign until the approach shot; then it’s a tricky shot to a narrow green protected by seven bunkers. No. 8 is a 219-yard par 3, and No. 9 is the signature hole at the resort. The 531-yard par 5 features an 80-foot drop from the tee box to the fairway. Mounds to the right of the fairway turn every ball to the left, which is not a good thing given a lake runs all the way up the left side to the green. Westin Kierland Resort & Spa sits behind the green and is a picture postcard waiting to happen.