Interview With Eric Yaillen, Executive Director - Southern Nevada Golf Association By Brian Weis

Interview With Eric Yaillen, Executive Director - Southern Nevada Golf Association

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Eric Yaillen, the Executive Director of the Southern Nevada Golf Association and Media Director for the Pacific Coast Amateur.

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 with a brief bio.
Eric Yaillen, Executive Director -- Southern Nevada Golf Association; Media Director, Pacific Coast Amateur
Former Director of Marketing & Communciations, Oregon Golf Association
Former Owner, Aspen Consulting (Software Development)
Former Director of Sales & Marketing, Star Plan Data Systems (Handicap computation service for Wisconsin State Golf Association, tournament software for PGA of America)
Former Regional Marketing Director, Feld Entertainment (Ringling Bros. & Walt Disneys World On Ice)

When did you start golfing and who introduced you do the game?
Started golfing while in High School. Really developed a passion when I was with Feld Entertainment and was a supervisor for a great golfer who was an Evans Scholar.
What is your current home course?
Don't have one.

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment on the course or in the industry?
I originated the concept of the Customer Relationship Management System implemented for State/Regional Golf Associations that was ultimately adopted and developed by the USGA.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
Liars and cheaters

What is your favorite club in the bag and why?
My best two clubs are my driver (Nike Sasquatch) and my pitching wedge primarily because I play them better than other clubs.

What is your favorite golf destination?
Everywhere can be a favorite for one reason or another. I lived in Oregon where there are phenomenal daily fee, private and resort courses and unique experiences.

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
Augusta National. I had an invitation to play it one time, but the member cancelled at the night prior due to a death in the family and we never rescheduled.

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
Peninsula State Park GC in Door County, WI. Always had fun there!

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
None.

Dream foursome (living)?
Jerry Kelly, Donald Trump, Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley. (At least I should be able to beat Barkley...and it should be fun!)

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
Payne Stewart, Bobby Jones, C.B. Macdonald, Old Tom Morris

18 Rapid Fire, Off The Cuff Questions

1) Hitting Long Drive OR Sinking Long Putt?
Putt

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?
Power fade

5) Beverage cart OR halfway house?
Bev cart

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
Bathroom

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Hot 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 5

12) Pants OR Shorts?
Pants

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Palmer

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Beatles

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
Fun

16) Bump and run OR flop shot?
Bump

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Lay up

18) 18 holes OR 36?
18

Revised: 02/11/2013 - Article Viewed 31,039 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.