Dean Snell Sr Director, Research and Development TaylorMade adidas Golf

Interview With Dean Snell Sr Director, Research and Development TaylorMade adidas Golf

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Dean Snell. He spent his whole life playing hockey, and early on hated the game of golf. He answered an ad for Titleist in 1989, and got hired into research and development, and got his first full set of clubs in 1990. Dean has been developing and designing golf balls for the past 23 years, specifically at the tour and better player level. He commented that he has been blessed to work with pretty much all of the top players in the world.

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?
This is acutally a funny story. I was in Hershey PA, playing hockey and my dad came out from Mass to see me play. He was a great player (scratch golfer) and took me out to the Hershey Country Club. I used a friends clubs, we teed off and on the second hole, the two players behind us hit a tee shot that rolled to my dad's feet. He proceeded to take his 3 wood out, and whack it back at them. So needless to say, I ended up fighting two guys on the second hole with my dad, and got kicked off the course... I said wow, I could really like this game... combining Hockey and Golf into one sport.. I really never played seriously until I started working at Titleist in 1990.

What is your current home course?
Country Club of New Bedford in Dartmouth Mass.

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
I am proud of the contribution I have been able to make in changing the perfomance of golf balls from Titleist Tour Balata, to Titleist Professional, to PRO V1 to PENTA TP.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
I really struggle with slow play.

What is your favorite club in your bag and why?
Driver for sure... love to hit it a long way...

What is your favorite golf destination?
Had an great opportunity to play 4 courses in Scotland, including St Andrews old course...

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
Augusta is at the top..

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
I enjoy playing Torrey Pines South..long and very tough, but great layout and great views..

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
I would like to see the rule changed allowing players to take a drop in their own fairway if in the middle of a divot.

Dream foursome (living)?
Bobby Orr, Michael Jordan and Jennifer Lopez... of couse I would ride with J-Lo... would love to see how other top athletes have developed into golf and hear stories of their great pasts in their own sport.. and for Jennifer Lopez, enough said.

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
Jack Niclaus, Ben Hogan and my DAD... he loved them.

18 Rapid Fire, Off The Cuff Questions

1) Hitting Long Drive OR Sinking Long Putt?
Drive, 100 percent.

2) Having Round of Life OR Hole in One?
Hole in one.. never happened.

3) Golfing at the crack of dawn OR twilight?
Twilight.. early is tough

4) Hit a power fade OR power draw?
Today, draw...

5) Beverage cart OR halfway house?
Both.

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
What the.... Im an athlete, bushes.

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Wrap

8) Around the green, being in sand OR thick rough?
Rough.. sand is for the beach.

9) Walking OR riding?
Riding.. too many hockey injuries to carry.

10) Do you carry traditional 3 iron OR hybrid?
Hybrids, two of em..

11) Do you prefer long par 3 OR long par 5?
Long par 5, and hitting it in 2.

12) Pants OR Shorts?
Shorts, love the breeze.

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Nicklaus... my dads favorite.

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Beatles, too many great songs.

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
Playing for money is fun.

16) Bump and run OR flop shot?
Flop shot... creative.

17) Lay up OR gamble?
See money aswer above... gamble.

18) 18 holes OR 36?
18.. four hours long is enough... 19th hole is always open for 4 more hours.

Revised: 01/25/2012 - Article Viewed 28,431 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.