Jim Richerson Enjoys His Round at Whistling Straits

Interview With Jim Richerson, General Manager Kohler Golf

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Jim Richerson, General Manager & Group Director of Golf for Kohler Companies overseeing Whistling Straits and Black Wolf Run. Jim Richerson comes to Kohler from the PGA of America having served as Senior Director of PGA Golf Properties, where he was overseeing day-to-day operations of PGA owned and operated facilities including the PGA Golf Club, PGA Country Club and PGA Learning Center in Port St. Lucie, Florida as well as the highly acclaimed Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. During the first 18 years of his career, Richerson was affiliated with the Marriott & Ritz-Carlton Hotel Corporation, holding various executive and management positions at several of the corporation's upscale golf properties, including Director of Golf Operations at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Florida as well as General Manager & Golf Professional positions at courses in Georgia, Hawaii, California, Arizona and Missouri. He has been a PGA Member since 1995 and served as a member of the 2010 PGA Championship Executive Committee and is the General Chairman of the 2012 U. S. Women's Open.

The following are a few traditional and non traditional golf centric questions that I love to ask influential people in the golf industry.

When did you start golfing and who introduced you do the game?
Started when I was 8 years old. My father introduced me to the game and his passion for the sport rubbed off on me over the years.

What is your current home course?
Being the GM & Group Director of Golf for the Kohler Co. I'm very fortunate that I have four wonderful home courses. The Straits and Irish courses at Whistling Straits and the River and Meadow Valleys at Blackwolf Run in Kohler, WI.

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
Winning the 2010 Gnarly Balls trophy.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
Slow play - golf was meant to be played in under 4 hours.

What is your favorite golf destination?
The American Club Resort in Kohler, of course!!

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
I've been very fortunate to play many great courses all over the world, but have yet to have the opportunity to play Cypress Point in California.

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
The Straits - the views, the scenery and the challenge are second to none.

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
Free relief from divots. I realize it is a rub of the green situation, but hitting it down the middle and being rewarded with your ball in a divot doesn't seem fair to me.

Dream foursome (living)?
My Wife, my father and any of the four brothers or younger sister. Most enjoyable rounds of the life have always been with family.

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazen and Payne Stewart.

18 Rapid Fire, Off The Cuff Questions

1) Hitting Long Drive OR Sinking Long Putt?
Long putt, usually means you have won the hole.

2) Having Round of Life OR Hole in One?
Have been fortunate enough to have a hole-in-one, so I'll go with round of my life.

3) Golfing at the crack of dawn OR twilight?
Crack of down, first group out, playing in under 3 hours.

4) Hit a power fade OR power draw?
Power draw, goes farther and I need every yard I can get.

5) Beverage cart OR halfway house?
Beverage cart.

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
Bathroom, preferable with Kohler products.

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Brat, Johnsonville brat.

8) Around the green, being in sand OR thick rough?
Sand, easier to determine how the ball will react.

9) Walking OR riding?
Walking with a caddie, best way to play and enjoy the game.

10) Do you carry traditional 3 iron OR hybrid?
Hybrid, 19 degree.

11) Do you prefer long par 3 OR long par 5?
Long par three, only takes one good shot to make a birdie.

12) Pants OR Shorts?
As a PGA professional I always wear pants.

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Palmer

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Beatles

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
Always play for a little money.

16) Bump and run OR flop shot?
Bump and run, flop shot is typically a last resort.

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Depends on the match, the situation and the potential risk. But usually I gamble.

18) 18 holes OR 36?
36 - twice the fun.

Article Tags: Interview With Jim Richerson

Revised: 09/13/2011 - Article Viewed 38,033 Times - View Course Profile

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.