Interview With Emily Bryant Director of Golf Operations at Palmetto Hall Golf Club Heritage Golf Group

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Emily Bryant, the Director of Golf Operations at Palmetto Hall Golf Club at Heritage Golf Group. 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?
I started out as a cart attendant at Wynlakes Country Club in Montgomery, Alabama after graduating college. I worked up through the ranks and became the Head Golf Professional at Arrowhead Country Club, also in Montgomery. In March 2007 I moved to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina and began working for the Heritage Golf Group. I have been an Assistant Golf Professional at Shipyard Golf Club and Palmetto Hall Golf Club, Golf Operations Manager at Oyster Reef Golf Club and recently returned to Palmetto Hall Golf Club as the Director of Golf Operations.

When did you start golfing and who introduced you to the game?
I started golfing when I was a junior in college. The guy I was dating at the time was a golfer and told me to give it a try. I signed up for golf as a "physical education" class and I was hooked. My college golf team did not have many members so they put me on the team right away, even though I did not know what I was doing.

What is your current home course?
Palmetto Hall Golf Club - Arthur Hills and Robert Cupp

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
I actually have 2 that I am proud of. I was promoted to Golf Operations Manager (non-PGA Member) at Oyster Reef Golf Club less than 11 months after I began working for Heritage Golf Group. The other accomplishment I am proud of is when I was given the opportunity to return to Palmetto Hall Golf Club as the Director of Golf Operations and how happy the members were that I was returning.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
Cell Phones

What is your favorite club in your bag and why?
Probably my 54 wedge. I enjoy working the ball around the green.

What is your favorite golf destination?
Since I live at one of the greatest golf destinations I guess I would have to say I enjoy getting away to Cuscowilla Golf Club in Eatonton, Georgia.

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
Brora Golf Club in Scotland

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
Cuscowilla Golf Club

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
Scuff marks or spike marks on the green should be repairable and divots should be a free drop.

Dream foursome (living)?
Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Tom Watson, and Jim Furyk

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
Payne Stewart, My Grandfather, Phil Mickelson, and Tom Watson

18 Rapid Fire, Off The Cuff Questions

1) Hitting Long Drive OR Sinking Long Putt?
Sinking a 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?
Power Fade

5) Beverage cart OR halfway house?
Beverage Cart

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
Bathroom

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Wrap

8) Around the green, being in sand OR thick rough?
Thick Rough

9) Walking OR riding?
If I am playing by myself I like to walk. If I am with others I like to ride.

10) Do you carry traditional 3 iron OR hybrid?
No 3 iron - I do have a hybrid

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

12) Pants OR Shorts?
Pants

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Nicklaus

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Who? I don't think I'm old enough to answer that question.

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
Fun, although the occasional bet for a Scotch is fun.

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

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Lay Up

18) 18 holes OR 36?
18 Holes

Revised: 05/29/2013 - Article Viewed 32,934 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.