Heather Risk

Interview With Heather Risk, LPGA T&CP Head Golf Professional Oakcreek Country Club

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Heather Risk, LPGA T&CP, the Head Golf Professional at Oakcreek Country Club. 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 born and raised in Prescott, AZ. I had 21 foster brothers & sisters growing up. I played golf in high school, but I played soccer in college. I referee high school basketball and volleyball. I coach Special Olympic Golf and Softball. I joined the LPGA in 2002 and became a Class "A" member in 2007. I joined the staff here at Oakcreek Country Club in 2010.

When did you start golfing and who introduced you to the game?
I am a sports-oholic! I played every sport I could as a kid and in high school. All my free time was and is spent playing a sport. In high school I played on the boys golf team until my junior year. My senior year we created a girls team. It was a ton of fun! I am a Class A Teaching and Club Professional of the LPGA. I began playing golf at the age of four. My grandmother, who was an excellent golfer, taught me to play. In the summer I would play from sun up to sun down! Sometimes my friends would get 72 holes in! One day it was raining and lighting like crazy! I was about 13 years old and we were still out there playing! My grandmother had never gotten mad at me... but she pulled up next the the hole we were playing and was shaking her finger at us! She yelled at us to get off the golf course!

What is your current home course?
Oakcreek Country Club, Sedona, Arizona

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
I think being Head Golf Professional here at Oakcreek Country Club and creating a fun, friendly atmosphere. The culture and feeling here at OCC is just amazing! We have awesome leagues and golf groups.

The other one is going to World Games for Special Olympics. In 2003 I had the honor of being a partner to a Special Olympic athlete. We played golf for 17 day in Ireland! It was an amazing experience!

What is your favorite club in your bag and why?
Ping G30 7 Wood! That is my go to club! (Sometimes even when it is not the right distance, I just grip down). I can hit high and well most of the time! It is funny how you just have confidence in some clubs more than others.

What is your favorite golf destination?
Torrey Pines, San Diego!

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
Of course The Old Course at St. Andrews courses in Scotland

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
LPGA International, Daytona Beach, FL.

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
Open to more people! Golf is expensive and elite. I would love to see it become more of a sport for everyone!

Dream foursome (living)?
Lorena Ochoa, Patty Sheehan, Nancy Lopez

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
Any of the founders of the LPGA

18 Rapid Fire, Off The Cuff Questions

1) Hitting Long Drive OR Sinking Long Putt?
Hitting Long Drive! ( I know long puts wins the pot... but out driving the boys is priceless!)

2) Having Round of Life OR Hole in One?
No hole in ones yet... I did have 182 yard eagle!

3) Golfing at the crack of dawn OR twilight?
Crack of dawn! The grass smells so good!

4) Hit a power fade OR power draw?
Power draw all day!

5) Beverage cart OR halfway house?
Bring my own.. I know horrible for business.

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
BATHROOM!!!

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Veggie Wrap

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 now... When I was younger I could hit a 3 iron, not so much now.

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

12) Pants OR Shorts?
SHORTS!

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
BOTH! I got to caddie for Jack Jr in Jack Sr. group when they opened his course at Twin Eagles in Naples Florida. Both awesome men.

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Neither

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
There has to be at least 25 cents on the line or I can't play.

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

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Depends on how the day looks...

18) 18 holes OR 36?
36 if I can!

Revised: 02/01/2016 - Article Viewed 34,460 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.