Jim Working On A New Project

Interview With Jim Engh, President of Jim Engh Design

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Jim Engh, President of Jim Engh Design, Castle Rock, CO. His passion for golf started when he was young. His father and friends built the local golf course in his home town of Dickinson, North Dakota. Later, Engh went to Colorado State University where shortly thereafter worked for Bill Kubly at Landscapes Unlimited. He briefly worked at the Nugent and Killian offices in Chicago. Before he started his own firm in 1992, he work overseas for Cotton Pennick and then for Mark McCormick's European design.

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 started golfing when I was a young kid growing up in North Dakota and it was my parents who influenced my enjoyment of golf. My dad was one of the top golfers in the state of North Dakota.

What is your current home course?
I split my time between Colorado and The Club at Pradera and Coeur D'Alene, Idaho and the Golf Club at black Rock.

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
Having been inducted into the North Dakota Golf Hall of Fame alongside my dad.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
Too many people play from a tee that is too difficult for them

What is your favorite golf destination?
Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, not just for the golf course but the beauty of the area and everything it has to offer. There is so much to enjoy with the lake and town.
Belmullet, County Mayo, Ireland....Carne Golf Links

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
Any of the sand green courses that are still in existence.

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
Carne, Inniscrone on the same day.

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
Have the golf world more concerned about the fun of the game rather than how good the pros are and the obsession with protecting par.

Dream foursome (living)?
My wife, son and daughter

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
My dad, son and daughter

18 Rapid Fire, Off The Cuff Questions

1) Hitting Long Drive OR Sinking Long Putt?
Both, sinking a long drive

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 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?
Sand

9) Walking OR riding?
Walking

10) Do you carry traditional 3 iron OR hybrid?
Both

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

12) Pants OR Shorts?
Shorts

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Palmer, he made the game fun

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Neither Van Morrison, he plays jazz, blues, and funk. How do you beat that?

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
Fun

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

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Gamble

18) 18 holes OR 36?
18 Holes - need to be able to properly digest a new course.

Article Tags: Interview With Jim Engh

Revised: 11/08/2011 - Article Viewed 29,945 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.