Kip Puterbaugh’s Aviara Golf Academy

Kip Puterbaugh’s Aviara Golf Academy offers golf schools, private lessons, Short Game schools, Playing schools, junior clinics, and the Aviara Jr. League. The program uses a dedicated private teaching facility with covered teaching stalls, high-speed cameras and audio input, grass and mat tees, designated chipping and putting areas for students, and a private putting studio equipped with a WellPutt putting platform, JC Video, and Quintic for putting analysis. The academy operates year round and offers a 3 to 1 student teacher ratio in one-, two-, and three-day golf schools, Short Game schools, Playing schools, and private lessons.

The academy opened in 1991 and is the longest running golf school in the Western United States. Kip Puterbaugh heads the Aviara Golf Academy, and Master Instructors include Wayne Searle, Ken Green, Bruce Nakamura, Bob Knee, Grant Halverson, Jason Puterbaugh, and Jamie Puterbaugh. The staff consists of seven full-time Master Instructors with over 100 total years of experience teaching both adult and junior golfers, and all seven have been placed by Golf Digest in the top 59 teachers in California. Golf Magazine has chosen the academy as one of the Top Golf Schools in the country, and it is one of only three schools worldwide at a Gold Medallion resort that has both a Top 100 Teacher and a Top 25 Golf School. The stated goal of instruction is to get students to understand their swing and what makes it work, using the proven fundamentals of champions of the game, past and present, rather than gimmicks or secrets. The academy welcomes corporate clients, can customize outings for corporate events and groups of two or more, offers corporate rates at the resort for attendees, and provides gift certificate packages for all schools and lessons, with the book “What You Know Can Hurt You” available as an add-on. Cutting-edge swing analysis technology at the academy includes Swing Catalyst, Foresight, Gears, and FlightScope, and after school golf with a cart on the Arnold Palmer championship Aviara Resort Course is available upon availability. One testimonial from a student, Jason Knill, describes improved performance in hitting more fairways and greens, multiple rounds under par, and reduced three-putts after working with instructor Jason.

Last updated June 28, 2026.