Andy Mears

Interview With Andy Mears Sales & Marketing Director Swan Lake Resort

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Andy Mears, Sales & Marketing Director, at Swan Lake Resort. Andy began working in the golf industry at age 13. Head Golf Professional at age 22. Executive of a golf company at age 30. President of a golf company at age 40. He is happy to be where he is today. He summed up his career with one simple word... priceless.

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?
Began love affair with golf at age 13. The Manager of the local golf course was a friend of the family and asked my mother if I needed a summer job. Of course, she said "Yes." The gentleman had been a WWII tank sergnant, so you can image the lessons I learned. Lessons still with me today.

What is your current home course?
Swan Lake Resort in Plymouth, IN

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
Being elected to serve on the Board of Directors of the Michgian PGA and Executive Committee of the International Network of Golf.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
Cell phone use on the course.

What is your favorite club in your bag and why?
Putter.

What is your favorite golf destination?
Pinehurst

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
Any that I have not yet played.

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
Point O' Woods, Benton Harbor, MI

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
Stroke and distance. Drop a ball, take two and move on.

Dream foursome (living)?
Jack Nicklaus, Matt Baughman (nephew), Nicklaus Mears (son) and me.

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
Payne Stewart, Hoddy Middaugh (mentor), Bobby Jones and me.

18 Rapid Fire, Off The Cuff Questions

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

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?
Beverage Cart

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
Bathroom

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Dog

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

9) Walking OR riding?
Walking with a caddy

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

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

12) Pants OR Shorts?
Shorts

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Nicklaus

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Neither

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
Money

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

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Gamble

18) 18 holes OR 36?
18

Revised: 02/22/2012 - Article Viewed 34,480 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.