Steve Smith and the Stanley Cup

Interview With Steve Smith Owner/Operator Fire Ridge Golf

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Steve Smith Opened Fire Ridge Golf Club in the Spring of 2003. Fire Ridge is a Championship 18 Hole Golf Course. We hosted the US Bank Championship Monday Qualifier from 2003 until 2009. Our Club House is home to our award winning restaurant "Flannery's at Fire Ridge. We have been voted Best On-Course Restaurant 4 years running.

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?
My Dad bought me my first set of clubs 40 years ago. I would ride my bike to a nearby 9 hole golf course clubs in tow!

What is your current home course? F
ire Ridge Golf Club

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
Winning the Worm Burner Open with my buddies Greg, Jason and Dieder.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
Practice Swings

What is your favorite club in your bag and why?
5 Iron....It works better than the other ones.

What is your favorite golf destination?
Torry Pines

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

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
Torry Pines

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
Eliminate the Gimmie

Dream foursome (living)?
Me, Tiger, Gretzky and Sid the Kid Crosby

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
Me, My Dad, Jackie Robinson, and Jack

18 Rapid Fire, Off The Cuff Questions

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

2) Having Round of Life OR Hole in One?
Breaking Par would be nice....I might have to get a few Hole In Ones to do it!!

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

4) Hit a power fade OR power draw?
Draw

5) Beverage cart OR halfway house?
Silly questions.....Beverage Cart!

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
Bathroom

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Hot Dog

8) Around the green, being in sand OR thick rough?
I'd rather be around the Green

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...However it's not a good look!

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Nicklaus

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Bob Marley

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
Can you play golf for fun?

16) Bump and run OR flop shot?
Bump It

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Go Big or Go Home

18) 18 holes OR 36?
18 Holes.....36 Holes cuts into bar time

Article Tags: Interview With Steve Smith

Revised: 02/22/2012 - Article Viewed 39,778 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.