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Stan's Got Game

Each year, Experience Scottsdale profiles a selection of local celebrities, from restaurateurs and sports figures to artists and adventurers. We invite you to meet this year’s luminaries and find out what they have to say about living, working and enjoying life in Scottsdale.

"One of the neat things about golf is you're always helping out the people you play with," says Stan Utley, golf instructor at Scottsdale's Grayhawk Golf Club and a former PGA TOUR professional. "You give them advice or share techniques about a particular shot you just made. Teaching seems to be in my nature."

Utley has been named "the hottest instructor in golf" and "the #6 golf instructor in the world" by Sports Illustrated and Golf Digest, respectively. Not surprisingly, Utley's past and present client list reads like a Who's Who of top PGA professionals, including Jay Haas, Rocco Mediate, Peter Jacobsen, Sergio Garcia, Darren Clarke, Gonzalo Fernandez Castano, Paul McGinley, Kevin Streelman and Paige McKenzie.

In 2004, Utley's instruction helped shock the golfing world when his client Jay Haas made the Ryder Cup team at the age of 50. And in 2009, Utley had trouble deciding who to root for during the British Open because he had given lessons to Stewart Cink, Tom Watson and Lee Westwood – the top three finishers. However, you don't have to be a touring pro to work with Utley, who's been hosting clinics and teaching private lessons at Grayhawk Golf Club for more than five years.

Today, Utley is the author of three books on golf instruction. His newest title, The Art of Scoring, is hot off the press and was featured in the September 2009 Golf Digest with a four-page excerpt. Utley also travels from city to city to lead corporate clinics and work with his PGA and LPGA clientele. Back at Grayhawk Golf Club, Utley offers private and small-group instruction broken down into half-day sessions. And just like with his professional clients, Utley focuses on mostly wedge and putter skills. "The nice thing about working on someone's short game is you can see results pretty quickly," he says. "If I can shore up someone's putting stroke, they will see a positive change almost immediately."