Interview With Chris McDonald General Manager/PGA Country Club of Johnston County

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Chris McDonald, the General Manager/PGA at Country Club of Johnston County . 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?
* 1980 to 1985 Asst Pro Pine Needles Resort under Peggy Kirk Bell
* 1986 to 1988 Asst Pro TPC AT Sawgrass PGA Tour
* 1988 to 1992 Head Professional Tiger Point Hosted the last PGA Tour Pensacola Open, course owned by Jerry Pate US Open Champion.
* 1992 to 1995 Center Valley Club Head Professional Allentown Pa.
* 1995 to 1999 Jones Creek Club General Manager Augusta Georgia
* 1999 to 2010 Dercroft Golf Club Pinehurst NC General Manager
* 2010 to current Country Club of Johnston County General Manager

* Lifetime member PGA

When did you start golfing and who introduced you do the game?
I was introduced to the game by Dad at the age of 10.The memory I have is playing with my Dad and spending quality time with him.

What is your current home course?
Country Club of Johnston County. It is a Ellis Maples design, a real shot makers course.CCJC is the home course of PGA Tour and Senior Tour player Neal Lancaster.

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
My proudest accomplishment was being the Head Professional at Tiger Point in Penscaola Florida when the course hosted the 1988 PGA Tour Pensacola Open. My other proudest moment was playing 18 holes at Augusta National.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
Players not ready when it is there turn.

What is your favorite club in your bag and why?
5 wood, shotmakers club.

What is your favorite golf destination?
Pinehurst NC

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

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

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
Pace of play, because if was a faster game more people would play.

Dream foursome (living)?
Me,Neal Lancaster, Lee Trevino, Arnold Palmer

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
Same

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?
Bev Cart

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
Bushes

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Hot Dog

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

9) Walking OR riding?
Riding

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

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

12) Pants OR Shorts?
Shorts

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?
Bump Run

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Gamble

18) 18 holes OR 36?
18

Revised: 01/21/2013 - Article Viewed 33,482 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.