Interview With Steve Belton General Manager Osage National Golf Resort

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Steve Belton, the General Manager at Osage National Golf Resort. 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?
Started playing very young but was not in an area that promoted golf, especially juniors. Played in High School and beyond but always just for fun. Met a Golf Professional at a local club and he told about the business of golf and the rest is history.

When did you start golfing and who introduced you do the game?
My Dad introduced me to golf. Had one club, a double face chipper. Used to run in front of him all the time to hit it again.

What is your current home course?
Osage National Golf Resort

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
In 2011 I received the Bill Strausbaugh Award from the Gateway Section. Made me very proud of what I have accomplished in my career.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
Slow play! Hit it already!

What is your favorite club in your bag and why?
Driver. Not always, but with a little help from a fellow PGA Professional I feel very confident with it my hands.

What is your favorite golf destination?
Kohler, Wisconsin to The Straits, Irish courses and the two courses at Blackwolf Run. Made a couple of trips there in August the last two years with some very close friends. Weather is perfect and the courses are unbelievable.

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
Pinehurst. Would love the opportunity to get out there.

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
Lake Nona. Very fortunate to have played there when it first open. Great layout and awesome condition.

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
Expectations of todays golfer. The superindents job is extremely difficult to keep up with todays demands. The cost to keep a course up to the expectations of our guest is crazy and of course the golf rates fall right in line with that. Although I love a groomed golf course that is perfect, I do wish that todays golfer was more educated about the behind the scenes effort that is made on a daily basis. Maybe we could make golf more affordable to play.

Dream foursome (living)?
My Dad, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
My Dad, Payne Stewart and Jack Nicklaus

18 Rapid Fire, Off The Cuff Questions

1) Hitting Long Drive OR Sinking Long Putt?
Sinking long putt. Long drive is great but you could still take a 6.

2) Having Round of Life OR Hole in One?
Having round of my life

3) Golfing at the crack of dawn OR twilight?
Twilite, love all the shadows

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

5) Beverage cart OR halfway house?
Beverage 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?
Riding

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. Par 5's I like to have a chance to reach in two.

12) Pants OR Shorts?
Shorts! It is hot here

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Nicklaus

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Elvis

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
Lets throw in some cash

16) Bump and run OR flop shot?
Flop. I have more confidence in the shot. Weird, I know.

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Gamble when it makes sense.

18) 18 holes OR 36?
18 I am getting older.

Revised: 01/23/2013 - Article Viewed 33,545 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.