Interview With James Grogan PGA Head Golf Professional Whitnall Park Golf Course By Brian Weis

Interview With James Grogan PGA Head Golf Professional Whitnall Park Golf Course

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with James Grogan, the PGA Head Golf Professional at Whitnall Park Golf Course. 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 was a 4 year varsity player in high school and fell in love with the game. I entered the golf business as an Assistant Professional with aspirations of graduating college and receiving my PGA membership. I've had the privilege of being an Assistant Silver Spring CC, North Shore CC, Merrill Hills CC, and most recently Chenequa CC before I obtained my most current position as the Head Professional at Whitnall Park.

When did you start golfing and who introduced you to the game?
I started really playing golf my freshman year in high school when I was introduced to the golf team.

What is your current home course?
Whitnall Park Golf Course

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
My proudest moment so far was the day I obtained my PGA Membership in November of 2009.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
Not replacing divots or fixing ball marks on the green.

What is your favorite club in your bag and why?
The putter. Putting has always been a strength of mine so I'd call it my favorite.

What is your favorite golf destination?
Las Vegas, NV

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
St. Andrews

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
Cascata in Las Vegas, NV

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
I don't think I would change a thing.

Dream foursome (living)?
Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
Same

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 My Life

3) Golfing at the crack of dawn OR twilight?
Crack of Dawn

4) Hit a power fade OR power draw?
Power Fade

5) Beverage cart OR halfway house?
Beverage Cart

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
Bushes

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Hot Dog

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

9) Walking OR riding?
Walking

10) Do you carry traditional 3 iron OR hybrid?
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?
Beatles

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
Play for money

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

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Gamble

18) 18 holes OR 36?
18 holes

Revised: 04/14/2015 - Article Viewed 35,615 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.