Ken Wang

Interview With Ken Wang, Owner of Pound Ridge Golf Club

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Ken Wang, Owner of Pound Ridge Golf Club in Pound Ridge, New York

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?
My mom bought me a 5-iron when I was 10 years old. I started hitting golf balls in an open field on the campus of Michigan State University where my sister Vera used to attend summer figure skating training camp.

What is your current home course?
Atlantic Golf Club on Long Island and of course, Pound Ridge Golf Club.

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
A 2-iron left five feet from the pin on a hole at the Green Valley Country Club in Bangkok, Thailand.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
Bad manners and people who speak during one's swing.

What is your favorite golf destination?
Shinnecock and TPC Sawgrass

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
Believe it or not, Pebble Beach.

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
The Blue Monster at Doral

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
Having the golf gods allow me to maintain a good spine angle despite having developed a pot belly over the years. Difficult choosing between good golf and good food.

Dream foursome (living)?
Fred Couples, Yogi Berra, Justin Timberlake

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Dean Martin

Rapid Fire, Off the Cuff Questions

Hitting Long Drive OR Sinking Long Putt?
Long Drive

Having Round of Life OR Hole in One?
Round of Life

Golfing at the crack of dawn OR twilight?
Twilight

Hit a power fade OR power draw?
Power draw

Beverage cart OR halfway house?
Halfway house

Hot dog OR wrap?
Hog dog

Around the green, being in sand OR thick rough?
Being in sand

Walking OR riding?
Riding

Do you carry traditional 3 iron OR hybrid?
Hybrid

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

Pants OR Shorts?
Pants

Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Nicklaus

Beatles OR Elvis?
Beatles

Play for fun OR play for money?
Play for fun

Bump and run OR flop shot?
Bump and run

Lay up OR gamble?
Lay up

18 holes OR 36?
18 holes

Revised: 11/05/2011 - Article Viewed 37,222 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.