Dr. Tony Parker

Interview With Dr. Tony Parker Historian World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Dr. Tony Parker, the Historian at The World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum. 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 currently the Historian at the World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum. Previously, I was the Curator of Golf Collections at the University of St Andrews, Scotland.

When did you start golfing and who introduced you to the game?
I started playing golf in early high school when my friend, Ed Rice, and I skipped school one afternoon to go and play. I caught the bug and have been playing golf ever since. I will admit, we did skip out of classes a few times in the afternoon after that as well.

What is your current home course?
My home course is the Old Course in St Andrews where I lived for 21 years. I currently have membership at TPC Sawgrass.

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
I guess it would have to be rising to the job of Curator of Golf Collections at St Andrews, the Home of Golf, and then moving into what I consider the top job for a golf historian, that of historian at the World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
On the course - SLOW PLAY! Hate it.

What is your favorite club in your bag and why?
My TaylorMade RBZ 3-wood. The ball goes like a rocket off the club and I get great, accurate distance with it. It feels great when you hit it right.

What is your favorite golf destination?
It has to be Scotland. I love links golf courses and they have the best in the world.

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
Streamsong and Merion.

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

Dream foursome (living)?
Gary Player (with whom I have played and he was great!)
Annika Sorenstam
Bubba Watson (just to watch his shots)
Sergio Garcia
A strange grouping I know, but that would be a fun day on the course.

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
Bobby Jones
Ben Hogan
Seve Ballesteros
Arnold Palmer

Favorite 19th hole drink?
An Arnold Palmer

18 Rapid Fire, Off The Cuff Questions

1) Hitting Long Drive OR Sinking Long Putt?
Long Putt, I have made a 75 footer on the 11th hole on the Old Course in St Andrews and that was a fantastic feeling to watch it roll straight into the cup from a 15 foot right to left break uphill.

2) Having Round of Life OR Hole in One?
I've had a Hole in One but I would love to enjoy the round of my life - bogey free and birdie loaded.

3) Golfing at the crack of dawn OR twilight?
Crack of Dawn - get out before the slow players and enjoy the solitude of the day.

4) Hit a power fade OR power draw?
Power fade - can't help it, that is my normal flight path with the driver.

5) Beverage cart OR halfway house?
Halfway house - take a break and not slow down play.

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
Where ever nature calls!

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Depends of the type of wrap? If Chicken Caesar Salad, then wrap, if not, hot dog.

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

9) Walking OR riding?
Walking (Europe) riding in the USA - too much distance between green and the next tee on American courses.

10) Do you carry traditional 3 iron OR hybrid?
Neither. It is 5 wood then 6 iron.

11) Do you prefer long par 3 OR long par 5?
Long par 5 - always a dream of a birdie or eagle. I don't even entertain thoughts like that on any par 3.

12) Pants OR Shorts?
Shorts, though not everyone appreciates my fine legs!

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
The King! Always!

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Hmmmm, tough one that. Being a good Southern boy I like Elvis, but the Beatles are great and I really like their songs.

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
Depends on the opposition. A couple of guys I play golf with it has to be for money, others just for fun. Prefer fun, but like taking money off of one individual in particular.

16) Bump and run OR flop shot?
Bump and run - I spent 21 years playing golf on Scottish Links courses, no way can you play flop shots but love bump and run.

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Gamble - no guts, no glory.

18) 18 holes OR 36?
Prefer 36, but will settle for 18. Any golf is better than none.

Revised: 11/07/2016 - Article Viewed 31,796 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.