Raymond Hearn at Miswood GC (Illinois)

Interview With Raymond Hearn President & Founder Raymond Hearn Golf Course Designs, Inc.

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Raymond Hearn, the President & Founder at Raymond Hearn Golf Course Designs, Inc. . 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 am a member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects and have been practicing the art and science of golf course architecture for 27 years. 75% of my business is restoration, renovation and remodeling of existing courses in the USA. The remaining 25% is new course design overseas. I have bachelor degrees from MSU in Landscape Architecture with my emphasis area in Golf Course Architecture and Land Planning. My other four year degree is in Turfgrass Science with a minor in Soil Science. I also teach a very popular golf course design seminar for individuals who what to learn more about golf course design. In my redesign or new design work, I am referred to as a throw back to golf course designers from the classical era of golf course design.

When did you start golfing and who introduced you to the game?
I started golfing at the age of 12. I started golfing when I started caddying at the Country Club of Detroit where I was awarded the prestigious Evans Golf Scholarship to MSU. My foundest memory was golfing with my father growing up. He was a bad golfer but we loved the time together on the golf course.

What is your current home course?
I have honorary memberships at all the courses I have designed (see www.rhgd.com). I play most at Macatawa legends CC here in Holland since it is 10 minutes from my office.

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
I am proud of each and every course I have designed or redesigned in my 27 year career.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
The slow growth of the game of golf. But I have a partial solution as is appearing in golf magazines around the world, please see http://europe.nxtbook.com/nxteu/tudorrose/bydesign_2012fall/index.php cover and then pages 8 - 11. This will revolutionize the game of golf providing options to introduce new players while still respecting the great game and its traditions.

What is your favorite club in your bag and why?
My wedges as the short game can save you when all else is failing.

What is your favorite golf destination?
Designer bias: :) My Michigan Courses My Illinois Courses

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
Augusta National as I have already played most of the Top 100.

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
Three choices:
Royal County Down in Ireland
Cypress Point in California
Mistwood Golf Club in Illinois

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
Make it cost less to play public courses as this would surely grow the game.

Dream foursome (living)?
Myself, Phil M. Tiger W. and Jack N.

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
Myself, Donald Ross, Alsiter MacKenzie and CB MacDonald.

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

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?
Halfway

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
Bathroom

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Hot Dog

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

9) Walking OR riding?
Walking

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?
Shorts

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Both

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Beatles

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
Play for money (competition)

16) Bump and run OR flop shot?
Bump

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Gamble

18) 18 holes OR 36?
18

Revised: 07/15/2013 - Article Viewed 33,891 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.