Interview With Marc Vedder, PGA Head Golf Professional/General Manager RedHawk Golf Course

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Marc Vedder, PGA, the Head Golf Professional/General Manager at RedHawk 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 came to RedHawk Golf Course after working at Jerome Country Club for five years as an Assistant PGA Professional and two years working for Dicks Sporting Goods as a PGA Head Professional. Along with being an established player, I have done an extensive amount of teaching and club fitting during my career. I feel these credentials are what make me a great teacher and mentor.

When did you start golfing and who introduced you to the game?
I started playing golf at the age of 4 years old. I remember being a little kid in the back yard at my Grandparent's house in South Carolina hitting my first golf shots with whiffle golf balls, and I was hook from that point forward!

What is your current home course?
I'm currently the Head Golf Professional at RedHawk Golf Course in Nampa, Idaho!

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
I would say my proudest golf accomplishment today was being voted into membership of the PGA of America in March of 2011.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
Pace of Play... It's a slow killer of the game of golf.

What is your favorite club in your bag and why?
My favorite club in my bag is the putter, not even a doubt!

What is your favorite golf destination?
My favorite golf destination is probably South Carolina. There are so many GREAT golf courses so close.

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
I'd love to get out at Pebble Beach, and while it's probably impossible.. I'd love to someday play Augusta National.

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
I'd play at RedHawk Golf Course, not even a doubt!

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
I'd change several rules pertaining to amateurs vs. professionals (like the anchoring rule). I'd have no problem having two separate sets of rules for Amateurs and Professionals. Seems like they have separate rules in every other major sport (basketball, baseball, football.. why not golf?)

Dream foursome (living)?
Myself, my Dad, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus.

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
Same as before.

Favorite 19th hole drink?
Water, have to stay hydrated!

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?
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?
Bathroom

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Wrap

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

9) Walking OR riding?
Walking preferable

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?
Slacks

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Nicklaus

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Beatles

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
Both

16) Bump and run OR flop shot?
Flop Shot

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Gamble

18) 18 holes OR 36?
The more the merrier... 36

Revised: 05/07/2016 - Article Viewed 164,938 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.