Jason Jason Scharping Waushara Country Club

Interview With Jason Scharping Waushara Country Club

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Jason Scharping the General Manager/Director at Golf Waushara Country. 2012 will be his 11th year in the golf industry. He started out as a caddie at Whistling Straits and absolutely fell in love with the business. Jason has a bachelors in Golf Enterprise Management and a Minor in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin Stout. He spent four years at Autumn Ridge, three years at Viroqua Hills Golf Club as Club Manager/Director of Golf. Today he runs the day to day activities at Waushara Country Club in Wautoma, Wisconsin.

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 when I was 19. I have always been more interested in the business aspect. Chad Harrington taught me a lot about the industry. I don't play all that much (once or twice a week), therefore my current handicap is about a 12. I enjoy playing a few holes here and there with my members and they think it's awesome when they beat me (hey, if they are happy I'm happy). One brief memory is shooting one under on the front nine at Northern Bay, of course I shot 6 over on the back.

What is your current home course?
Waushara Country Club, Wautoma, WI

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
I wanted to be a General Manager by the time I was thirty, and with hard work I was able to accomplish that.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
People that insist on playing in five-somes. Also, people that complain about something but will do absolutely nothing to come up with a solution to the problem.

What is your favorite club in your bag and why?
My Cleveland wedges and Cleveland Classic center shafted wedge.

What is your favorite golf destination?
Waushara Country Club (that is my biased answer). Definitely The Kohler Courses.

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
St. Andrews (I love links golf)

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

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
Simplify all the rules. I spend 15 minutes every Wednesday going over the rules of golf with my Ladies Association.

Dream foursome (living)?
I would have to have a golf outing, this list is too long. It would be about a 12 some and all of my good friends and relatives. I enjoy watching the pros but I don't think I would want to play with any of them.

18 Rapid Fire, Off The Cuff Questions

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

5) Beverage cart OR halfway house?
Bev cart

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
Bathroom

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Wrap

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?
Hybrid(s)

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

12) Pants OR Shorts?
Pants

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Nicklaus

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Beatles

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
A little of both

16) Bump and run OR flop shot?
Flop

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Lay up

18) 18 holes OR 36?
18

Revised: 03/05/2012 - Article Viewed 35,181 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.