Interview With Mark Whetzel, PGA Director of Golf By Brian Weis

Interview With Mark Whetzel, PGA Director of Golf

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Mark Whetzel, PGA Director of Golf at Thanksgiving Point, The Ranches, Coral Canyon, and Sky Mountain. 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?
At age 12 by my Dad.

What is your current home course?
Thanksgiving Point Golf Club in Lehi Utah

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
Starting my own Golf Management Company and owning my own golf course.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
Slow Play

What is your favorite golf destination?
Anywhere in Hawaii

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?
Pebble Beach

Dream foursome (living)?
Tiger Woods
Donald Trump
Mike Tomlin

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
My Dad
Bobby Jones
Ben Hogan

18 Rapid Fire, Off The Cuff Questions

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

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

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

4) Hit a power fade OR power draw?
Both!

5) Beverage cart OR halfway house?
Bev Cart

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
Both!

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Granola Bar and Diet Coke!

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?
I carry a 2 and 3 Iron

11) Do you prefer long par 3 OR long par 5?
Long Par 5, (#11 @ Thanksgivng Point almost 700 Yards!)

12) Pants OR Shorts?
Pants

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Nicklaus

14) Beattles OR Elvis?
Both!

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
Playing for money is playing for fun!

16) Bump or run OR flop shot?
Bump and run, but the chicks dig the flop shot!

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Gamble

18) 18 holes OR 36?
36 over two days! Ha ha

Revised: 07/27/2011 - Article Viewed 33,085 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.