Steven Pease

Interview With Steven Pease Golf Writer GolfWisconsin.com

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Steven Pease, the Golf Writer at 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.

Can you provide our readers a brief biography?
Steve Pease. Social media guy at Mindbenders Media. Golf nerd.

When did you start golfing and who introduced you to the game?
I watched Greg Norman win the 1993 Open Championship from my parents' living room. A week later, I was cutting out pictures of him, pinning them to my wall. Shortly there after, I was in Wal-Mart picking out my first set of Northwesterns and forcing my parents to buy me a King Cobra Aussie cowboy hat, which I wore everywhere. Thanks, Greg.

What is your current home course?
Just bought a home in Germantown, WI. Now I just need to find a course!

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
In the industry: In 2009 I worked part-time as a salesman for Golfsmith. I ended up being one of the Top 12 salesman in the country and was flown to Plano, Texas for a weekend of golf, tours and consulting for Adams Golf. Good times.

On the course: Unfortunately, nothing comes to mind. lol. Hope to change that in 2013.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
On the course - two things.
1.) Slow play. Pick a target; hit it.
2.) Unsolicited advice. Please don't give me tips (or my score) unless I ask for it.

Off the course - bosses who don't follow The Golden Rule.

What is your favorite club in your bag and why?
My Ping Eye 2 Cooper red-dot 3-iron. Best. Club. Ever.

What is your favorite golf destination?
I'm a big fan of Troy Burne in Hudson, WI. Truest greens I've ever seen. Would also recommend the courses in Lutsen, MN. My buddies and I took an R.V. tour up there a few years back - loved every minute.

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
This is the toughest question. Before Pebble and Augusta, I want to play every great course in SE Wisconsin: Blackwolf River, Erin Hills, Milwaukee C.C., Whistling Irish, The Bull.

And one day I'll play The Old Course. Hopefully it won't be 40 degrees, pouring rain and straight-line winds. :)

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
Don't laugh: Blackhawk Golf Course, a 9-hole muni Janesville. :) Literally grew up on that course.

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
Pace of play. I don't think you need to take three practice swings, back off it, visualize your shot, get set and pull a Jim Furyk, backing off again. Just hit it. I have a hard time waiting for slow groups ahead of me. I don't like asking to play through unless I absolutely have to. So if you're in a foursome, and you see me - solo - behind you, please wave me through!

Dream foursome (living)?
Tiger and Nicklaus vs. Me and Stricker, match play. Let's do this.

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
See above. Just to be different: Bobby Jones, John Feinstein, my Great Grandpa Overturf, Butch Harmon.

18 Rapid Fire, Off The Cuff Questions

1) Hitting Long Drive OR Sinking Long Putt?
Drive.

2) Having Round of Life OR Hole in One?
Round of Life.

3) Golfing at the crack of dawn OR twilight?
No question: Twilight. No dew. No waiting. Beautiful sunsets. Slow greens. :)

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

5) Beverage cart OR halfway house?
Bev cart.

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
Both, like a gentleman.

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Hot dog.

8) Around the green, being in sand OR thick rough?
I like the beach.

9) Walking OR riding?
Both. I'm down with whatever.

10) Do you carry traditional 3 iron OR hybrid?
3 iron! Her name is "Vicki," after my best friend's mom. Don't ask.

11) Do you prefer long par 3 OR long par 5?
Long par 3. Love love par-3s. Love the challenge of a long carry.

12) Pants OR Shorts?
Pants. Lining up a putt in shorts is just odd. There I said it.

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Nicklaus.

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Beatles. 13 albums in 7 years? Yeah, Beatles.

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

16) Bump and run OR flop shot?
For years it was the flop. Slowly becoming the bump.

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Gamble.

18) 18 holes OR 36?
I'm a new dad, so it's usually 9. But, I'd play 36 every time

Revised: 09/07/2013 - Article Viewed 31,081 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.