Rick Hileman, Director of Golf Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort

Interview With Rick Hileman, Director of Golf Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Rick Hileman the Director of Golf at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort. This is his 20th year in the golf industry and hist 14th year as a PGA Member. 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?
I was about six and it was my Dad. We belonged to a local nine-hole country club. I believe I was 12 or 13 the summer and I spent every day at the course. Dropped off in the morning, picked up at night. The ultimate golf shop rat, but it's also the summer. I got hooked and lowered my handicap from a 22 to a 10.

What is your current home course?
We have four championship courses at Sandestin: The Links, Baytowne, Raven and Burnt Pine.

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
PGA Membership in 1998. I say this because I haven't had a hole-in-one!

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
Iron covers. My father has some and it drives me crazy. I purposely steal one from him every time we play.

What is your favorite club in your bag and why?
~No Comment

What is your favorite golf destination?
Sandestin, of course. Four championship courses, one location with night life and plenty to offer everyone. If we were asking for the less obvious answer I would have to say Pinehurst in the U.S. and Scotland overseas.

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
Augusta National and Old Head in Ireland

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
Pinehurst No. 2 or Old Course in St. Andrews

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
Fourteen club rule. Make it a Tour rule and allow non-touring pros and amateurs to use as many as they want. And, install satellite radios in all golf cars, no tee times before noon and complimentary Budweiser. Okay, the last may have been a stretch.

Dream foursome (living)?
Mike Schmidt, George Bush #41, Paula Creamer, myself

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
Ben Hogan, My Grandfather, Bob Hope, 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?
Round of my life

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

4) Hit a power fade OR power draw?
Power fade

5) Beverage cart OR halfway house? Beverage Cart

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
Bushes

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Really, what golfer eats a wrap? Hot dog.

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

9) Walking OR riding?
I'm 41 and overweight! Riding. Plus, there's nowhere to put your beer when you are walking.

10) Do you carry traditional 3 iron OR hybrid?
Three-iron because I can still hit and don't need the cheater club.

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

12) Pants OR Shorts?
Was ALWAYS pants. Then moved to Florida. Definitely shorts.

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Palmer

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Hunk'a hunk'a. Elvis baby!

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
Money, every time. Even if it's just a dollar for pride.

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

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Gamble! I didn't come all this way to lay up!

18) 18 holes OR 36?
Fourteen, actually. I think a 14-hole course would be perfect. I plan to build one someday.

Revised: 03/09/2012 - Article Viewed 35,737 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.