Interview With Paul Albanese - Golf Architect

Interview With Paul Albanese Principal Albanese & Lutzke

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Paul Albanese, the Principal at Albanese & Lutzke. 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?
Golf course architect for over 20 years; Member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects; Director of Golf Course Architecture at the Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland;

When did you start golfing and who introduced you do the game?
Started in golf world as a caddy at 13 years old; Introduced by my father -- we played a lot together. Captain of the Cornell Men's Golf Team.

What is your current home course?
Living in S.E Michigan -- I play many great tracks in the area.

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
Having designed many courses of which my clients are proud, and golfers enjoy playing. (Picking a favorite is like picking a favorite child -- not really possible.)

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
SLOW PLAY!!!!! It is really hurting the game. Visit Scotland and one will understand the speed with which the game should be played.

What is your favorite club in your bag and why?
7 iron -- I could play most courses with just this only club and do OK.

What is your favorite golf destination?
Scotland

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
Augusta and Pine Valley

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
St. Andrews

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
Out of bounds -- the penalty is way too harsh. In fact, I would simply the rules a lot to make it more beginner player friendly.

Dream foursome (living)?
Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tiger Woods and myself.

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
Donald Ross, Alister MacKenzie, C.B MacDonald and myself

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?
Hole in One

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?
Plead the 5th

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Diggity Dog!

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

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

12) Pants OR Shorts?
shorts

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Both

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Beatles

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
Something on the line -- no necessarily money

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

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Gamble

18) 18 holes OR 36?
36 -- depending on the beverage cart and diggity dogs

Revised: 12/18/2012 - Article Viewed 32,048 Times

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.