Brian's Dream foursome: Nathan, Jennifer, Brian and Zoe Weis

Interview With Brian Weis, Publisher GolfTrips.com

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Brian Weis, Publisher GolfTrips.com (and 30+ golf sites like GolfWisconsin.com). The following are a few traditional and non traditional golf centric questions that I love to ask influential people in the golf industry. (While I do not fit that description, I thought I would answer my own questions!)

When did you start golfing and who introduced you do the game?
I started golfing in the 4th grade. I won't date myself but it was a long time ago. My parents were members at West Bend Country Club and enrolled me into the junior golf program. I remember being so nervous but my dad said to swing slow. I blasted a drive about 180 yards. (About 60 yards farther than the rest of the group) The walking mother asked me if I wanted to move from the 5 hole program to the 9 hole program. After I carded a 12 on the first hole, she realized I was in the right program for my age.

What is your current home course?
I golf all over. The closest course to my house is Erin Hills.

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
I once finished 5 shots behind Mark Wilson, in a golf tournament. You know that famous PGA player who plays on the weekends. Ok..I need to share the rest of the story. It was in a high school golf meet. Ok, the event was only nine holes. But hey...how many people can say that???!!!

To be honest, I am stoked anytime I have an eagle putt.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
SSSSLLLLOOOOOWWW PPPPLLLAAAYYY.

I love the First Tee Program but somebody needs to invent the Ready Golf Academy.

What is your favorite golf destination?
Being a golf travel writer...I plead the 5th. I love any place that I can golf in shorts.

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
Hmmmm. Like every one else.... Augusta National.

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
It is a toss up between West Bend Country Club (the course I grew up one), Ross Bridge in Alabama, Wild Horse GC in Nebraska (where I shot my best round) or ASU Karsten where I first broke par for 9 holes...still trying to do it for a full 18 (oh, the nerves).

Dream foursome (living)?
I already golfed it, my wife and two kids, I was just beaming that day, plus we all enjoyed ourselves. But if I had another, it would be: Me, John Daly, Pete Dye and my dad.

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
Me, Payne Stewart, Ronald Regan and Jesus. I idolized Payne Stewart as a kid. I loved his knickers. Ronny..just to talk some politics. I would also love to see Jesus walk on water and retrieve a water ball. Plus, I need to know if there are golf courses in heaven.

18 Rapid Fire, Off The Cuff Questions

1) Hitting Long Drive OR Sinking Long Putt?
A Perfectly Straight Drive.

2) Having Round of Life OR Hole in One?
Hole in one...I have had a hole in three but never the ace.

3) Golfing at the crack of dawn OR twilight?
Crack of dawn. You got the whole day ahead of you after your round. I guess, I am a morning person.

4) Hit a power fade OR power draw?
Straight..but a slight power draw is fun to watch.

5) Beverage cart OR halfway house?
Beverage Cart...I can always use an ice tea.

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
Well, golf is about being one with nature. When in nature, do as the animals do...I am usually looking for a lost ball in the woods once per nine.

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Hot dog with onions followed by a good ole Wisconsin Brat.

8) Around the green, being in sand OR thick rough?
Thick rough. The sand can be tricky for me.

9) Walking OR riding?
I always have a camera and 10 gadgets. I need a cart. I am fond of walking but I like to play fast and a cart helps pull that off.

10) Do you carry traditional 3 iron OR hybrid?
Hybrid, it goes 25 yards farther.

11) Do you prefer long par 3 OR long par 5?
Long Par 5. More time to recover and better chance for me to get an eagle.

12) Pants OR Shorts?
Shorts!!!!!!!!!!!

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Nicklaus. I watched is video "Golf My Way" a hundred times as a kid..you think I would be much better.

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
I been to Graceland, but I grew up in a Beatles household. My dad always said there are two types of people in this word - those who like Elvis and those who like the Beatles. My dad hated Elvis....

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
Play for fun. I am too competitive and just like golf for golf.

16) Bump and run OR flop shot?
Open the face and hit a big flop shot. I grew up on a course that had 16 elevated greens. I never learned how to hit a bump in run until my adult years.

17) Lay up OR gamble?
While there is no greater thrill than pulling off a miracle shot, I am finally learning to play smart at times and layup. I love to gamble... when it works...

18) 18 holes OR 36?
As many as I can play!

Revised: 07/26/2011 - Article Viewed 28,792 Times

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.