Interview With Adam Swenson

Interview With Adam Swenson Assistant Golf Pro, Oshkosh Country Club

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Adam Swenson, Assistant Golf Pro at Oshkosh Country Club. He is currently enrolled in the PGA PGM Program. In April 2008, he graduated from the Golf Academy of America in Orlando, FL with an associates degree in Golf Professional Management. After graduating he moved back to Wisconsin taking his position at job at Silver Spring.

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?
I started golfing at age 11. My uncle introduced me to the game and it was right around the time Tiger Woods won his third U.S. Amateur. With the combination of watching Tiger play and my uncle showing me the ropes, I quickly realized that I was going to love golf. By far my most fondest memories was getting my first actual irons and golf balls. My very first shot with them was a shank directly to the right into my parent's bedroom window. The parents weren't too happy but I still thank them to this day for not taking away my golf clubs.

What is your current home course?
I guess my home course would be considered where I work which is the course I usually play, Oshkosh Country Club. Although when I was a kid in middle school and high school my home course would have been Kettle Moraine Golf Club.

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
I think it would have to passing the P.A.T. By far one the most grueling days of golf I've ever been through. It may seem easy to shoot a 76 and a 77 in the same day, same course but until your on the 36th hole having to par the last hole to pass, it's not easy at all.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
By far my biggest pet peeves in golf is finding sunflower seeds, cigarette butts or random trash on a green. I think it is very disrespectful and it ruins the etiquette in the game. It is very easy to throw that stuff away in the trash or simply put in your golf cart.

What is your favorite club in your bag and why?
I think it's going to be close tie between my putter and my driver. I feel like I can make any putt and I feel like I can hit any fairway. But I guess if I had to choose one it would be the driver. When I'm on the tee I feel like no matter what I want the club to do, it will do it for me. It feels like I don't ever see the rough. Draw or Fade it doesn't matter. It's a great feeling to have.

What is your favorite golf destination?
I don't really have a favorite golf destination. A great destination in Wisconsin is simply going to Lake Geneva and playing Grand Geneva or Geneva National. Kohler, WI also has some of the best golf courses Pete Dye has ever designed. Blackwolf Run and Whistling Straits. I loved golfing in Orlando. So many golf courses to choose from it literally is the golf capital of the nation. Also I would love to go back to the TPC at Scottsdale. I love desert golf.

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
Well I'm sure this is at the top of everybodies list if they haven't played there, Augusta National. The holy grail of golf. Not very many get to tee it up there but someday I would love to. As far as something more probable I think it would have to be Pebble Beach

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
TPC at Scottsdale

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
Spike marks. I wish I could be able to fix golfers spike marks. I don't think golfers should get screwed over for someone elses marks.

Dream foursome (living)?
Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trvino

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
Old Tom Morrris, Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones, Byron Nelson

18 Rapid Fire, Off The Cuff Questions

1) Hitting Long Drive OR Sinking Long Putt?
Sinking a long putt

2) Having Round of Life OR Hole in One?
Having a round of a life simply beacuse I've already had a hole in one

3) Golfing at the crack of dawn OR twilight?
At the crack of dawn

4) Hit a power fade OR power draw?
Power fade

5) Beverage cart OR halfway house?
Beverage cart

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
Bathroom

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Hot dog

8) Around the green, being in sand OR thick rough?
Sand

9) Walking OR riding?
Riding

10) Do you carry traditional 3 iron OR hybrid?
3 iron

11) Do you prefer long par 3 OR long par 5?
Long Par 5

12) Pants OR Shorts?
Shorts

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Nicklaus

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Beatles

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
Play for money

16) Bump and run OR flop shot?
Bump and run

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Lay up

18) 18 holes OR 36?
36

Revised: 01/25/2012 - Article Viewed 33,520 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.