Jimmy Hanlin on the range with Natalie Gulbis

Interview With Jimmy Hanlin, owner of Hanlin Golf Company

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Jimmy Hanlin, Director of Golf, TV-Radio host SportstimeOhio and ESPN Cleveland, and owner of Hanlin Golf Company. Jimmy started the game at 5 years of age and played professionally from 1994-1996. Currently host 3 golf shows on SportstimeOhio and 1 radio show on ESPN Cleveland. In addition, Jimmy, owns and operates Little Mountain CC, Stonewater GC, and Cumberland Trail GC.

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?
Started at the age of 5 with my neighbor by pounding soup cans into the ground and begging our dads to lower the mowers around the cups. First job was at Spring Hills Golf Club fixing ball marks at the age of 8.

What is your current home course?
Little Mountain CC Stonewater GC Cumberland Trail GC

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
I have 5 double eagles in my career which is pretty cool. I also have won 2 emmys from television work with SportsTime Ohio. Its a tie.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
People that don't practice but get upset that the don't get better.

What is your favorite club in your bag and why?
Driver!!! Isnt that everyones fav.!! Actually I've always drove the ball pretty well so that helps.

What is your favorite golf destination?
Pinehurst/Ireland Cant make a decision!

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
Augusta National

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
Royal Portrush

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
Wouldnt change a thing. I love it exactly how it is!!

Dream foursome (living)?
Phil Mickelson
Howard Stern
Denise Richards

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
Arnold Palmer
Ben Hogan
Walter Hagen

18 Rapid Fire, Off The Cuff Questions

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

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?
Just Straight

5) Beverage cart OR halfway house?
Bev Cart

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
Bathroom

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
hot dog

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

9) Walking OR riding?
Ride

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?
Pants

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Palmer

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Elvis

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
Money

16) Bump and run OR flop shot?
Flop

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Gamble

18) 18 holes OR 36?
36

Revised: 02/22/2012 - Article Viewed 38,702 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.