Interview With Garrett Mack PGA Head Golf Professional Silver Spring Country Club

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Garrett Mack, the PGA Head Golf Professional at Silver Spring Country Club. 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 to the game?
An old friend of the family invited me to play 9 hole back in 1994. We had fun and starting playing once a week, which quickly turned into 3-4 times a week. It didn't take long for me to get hooked on the game.

What is your current home course?
Silver Spring Country Club

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
My proudest moment would be passing the PGA Playing Ability test. It took me a while to pass it, and at times I never thought I would. But one cloudy, cold, windy, and rainy day at Dretzka Park, I shot the two lowest rounds of my life (at the time) to pass with ease.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
People who don't rake bunkers, or fix ball marks. I know how hard the grounds crews work to keep the course in good shape and to me that just shows how inconsiderate some people can be.

What is your favorite club in your bag and why?
I don't really have a favorite club, but I do have a ball retriever I'm quite fond of.

What is your favorite golf destination?
Unfortunately I haven't been to any of the big name "golf destinations" like Kohler, or Pinehurst yet, so I don't really have a favorite. I have been down to Arizona a few times and enjoyed their courses, does that count?

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
Augusta National.

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
The Links at Lawsonia in Green Lake Wisconsin. I try to play there once a year and I always have fun.

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
I would like to make the rules of golf much simpler and easier to understand.

Dream foursome (living)?
Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player.

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
My step-father Bob Sullivan, my friend Phil Hunt, and Manuel de la Torre. These are the three people who introduced, taught, and gave me passion for the game of golf.

18 Rapid Fire, Off The Cuff Questions

1) Hitting Long Drive OR Sinking Long Putt?
Since I'm not a big hitter, I would have to choose long drive. You can get lucky and sink a long putt, but nobody gets lucky and hits a 325 yard drive.

2) Having Round of Life OR Hole in One?
My best round is a 65, and I have had three Hole in Ones. At this point in my life I think that is as good as it will get. But to make a choice, I'd choose round of life.

3) Golfing at the crack of dawn OR twilight?
Twilight, I hate mornings.

4) Hit a power fade OR power draw?
Power fade. Phil Mickelson couldn't win a major until he learned to hit a fade.

5) Beverage cart OR halfway house?
Why can't we do both?

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
Bathroom.

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Depends on my mood.

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

9) Walking OR riding?
Riding, it's faster.

10) Do you carry traditional 3 iron OR hybrid?
I carry both.

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

12) Pants OR Shorts?
Pants. Legs that look like mine usually come with a biscuit and a side of cole slaw.

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Not fair, I shouldn't have to choose. Both of these gentlemen are icons!

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Beatles.

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
I play for fun, but it's nice if you can win a little money.

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

17) Lay up OR gamble?
What's a lay-up?

18) 18 holes OR 36?
Why stop at 36, if there's more daylight?

Revised: 05/31/2014 - Article Viewed 36,228 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.