Interview With JT Thompson PGA/Head Golf Professional Bullseye Golf Club By Brian Weis

Interview With JT Thompson PGA/Head Golf Professional Bullseye Golf Club

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with JT Thompson, the PGA/Head Golf Professional at Bullseye Golf 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 have been fortunate to work as a golf professional and General manager over the last 17 years. I have held GM roles in the private club industry at Deer Park CC in North Central Illinois & Stevens Point CC in Central Wisconsin. I have had head professional roles at Greenwood Hills CC in Wausau, Wi, Lacoma Golf Club a 45-hole public facility in East Dubuque, Il & Pine Valley Golf Course in Wausau. My PGA apprentice training included working for storied Marriott Hotels Golf Management Division in Orlando, FL, Minocqua Country Club in Wisconsin and Valparaiso Country Club in Indiana. I have recently attained PGA Certification in General Management and have completed certification as Callaway Master Fitter & as a Certified US Kids Golf Coach!

When did you start golfing and who introduced you to the game?
I was exposed to the game at age 5 or 6 and friends of my parents who were big golfers used to take me to the golf course (parents never played golf). At age 8 my parents took over operations of a supper club attached to public golf course & we lived above the restaurant less than 40 yards from the 1st tee.

What is your current home course?
Bullseye Golf Club in Wisconsin Rapids,WI

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
I have a couple;
1. 2006 Illinois Junior Golf Player of the year
2. Played Division 1 Golf at Loyola University Chicago
3.Being a Certified PGA member (less than 7% of PGA members accomplish this distinction)
4.Holding the course record at Pine Valley Golf Course in Wausau, WI score of 64 since been tied

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
Slow Play

What is your favorite club in your bag and why?
Honestly no favorite...None of them work quite like they used to.

What is your favorite golf destination?
Arcadia Bluffs in Michigan coupled with a round at Crystal Down (one the elite private club in the country) just down road from Arcadia. Have been fortunate to do that trip twice.

Followed closely by the the UP of Michigan Greywalls/Sweetgrass/Timberstone

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
Milwaukee Country Club

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
National Golf Links of America Long Island, NY

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
Single rider carts or scooters for all players...Helps pace of Play & the scooters are blast to play golf on!

Dream foursome (living)?
My UP of Michigan trip buddies & throw in Tigerwoods the perfect 5 some!

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
If I choose some pros I would go with Kevin kisner/Tiger Woods/Max Homa

Favorite 19th hole drink?
Crown Royal & Diet Coke

18 Rapid Fire, Off The Cuff Questions

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

2) Having Round of Life OR Hole in One?
Round of Life...Hole in ones are pure luck

3) Golfing at the crack of dawn OR twilight?
Both

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?
Hot Dog

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

9) Walking OR riding?
Depends on the day

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?
Shorts

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Neither

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Dave Matthews

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
Money

16) Bump and run OR flop shot?
Bump it

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Gamble

18) 18 holes OR 36?
Either, but I am one that enjoys 9 holes too

Revised: 03/25/2020 - Article Viewed 23,212 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.