"The Walrus" - Craig Stadler

Interview With Craig Stadler - The Walrus - PGA Tour and Champions Tour

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Craig Stadler, aka The Walrus. Stadler won his first two PGA Tour events in 1980, at the Bob Hope Desert Classic and the Greater Greensboro Open. His career year was 1982 when he won four PGA Tour events including The Masters after a playoff with Dan Pohl. Stadler won the B.C. Open in 2003, becoming the first player over age 50 to win a PGA Tour event in 28 years. He won 13 PGA Tour events in all, and played on the 1983 and 1985 Ryder Cup teams.

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?
The age of 4 with my father

What is your current home course?
Bear Creek Golf Club

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment on the course or in the industry?
On the course, Winning the Tour Championship after a 7 year draught

Off the course being inducted into the Argentina Golf hall of Fame last year.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
Slow play, no doubt about it

What is your favorite club in the bag and why?
Sand wedge....it has saved me from numerous bad shots!

What is your favorite golf destination?
Scotland

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
Don't believe I have any...

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
Royal Doornock, Scotland

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
Water Hazard stakes should all be red! Way to confusing!

Dream foursome (living)?
Arnold Palmer and my two sons Kevin and Chris

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
I would add my father and it would have to be a fivesome

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?
Halfway house

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
Depends!

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?
3 iron

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

12) Pants OR Shorts?
Shorts

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Palmer

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Beatles

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

16) Bump and run OR flop shot?
Flop

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Gamble

18) 18 holes OR 36?
18

Article Tags: Interview With Craig Stadler

Revised: 03/12/2012 - Article Viewed 30,621 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.