Paul Schock and His Dog

Interview With Paul Schock, Founder and Chairman, The Prairie Club

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Paul Schock, Founder and Chairman, of The Prairie Club. Paul has had a long background in golf, both as a player and an investor. In golf he has been an USGA Committee person and Grounds Chair at one of South Dakota's finest private clubs. His business background includes 20 years as a private equity specialist. He started and built Bluestream Capital Company, SD's largest and most successful private equity firms.

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?
At about age 12, by my older brother. If I shagged balls for him for an hour, he'd let me hit a few. Those were the days, no nearby driving range and everyone had their own shag bag.

What is your current home course?
Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
In 2002, I won both of South Dakota's Men's Amateur Championships, the stroke play and match play, with my son on the bag. It is a close second to qualifying for and playing in 11 USGA National Championships.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
Slow play and courses where the average player loses a lot of balls.

What is your favorite golf destination?
Well, The Prairie Club of course! Second favorite is Sand Hills Golf Club.

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
Augusta and Pebble Beach

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

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
The out of bounds rule. It should be played same as a lateral hazard or reduce penalty by one stroke.

Dream foursome (living)?
Bob Rotella, Tom Lehman and my two sons.

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson and Dwight Eisenhower

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 life

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

4) Hit a power fade OR power draw?
Draw

5) Beverage cart OR halfway house?
Halfway house

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
Bushes

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Hot dog

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

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 3

12) Pants OR Shorts?
Shorts

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Nicklaus

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Beatles

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
For Money

16) Bump or run OR flop shot?
Bump and hrun

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Gamble

18) 18 holes OR 36?
18

Revised: 08/05/2011 - Article Viewed 35,921 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.