Andrew Ogata

Interview With Andrew Ogata 1st Assistant Golf Professional Arrowhead Golf Club

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Andrew Ogata, the 1st Assistant Golf Professional at Arrowhead Golf Club. 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?
I grew up watching the game and playing on the weekends with my father. Since I could walk I had a golf club in my hands and swing that club every chance I got. I'm glad I get the chance everyday to help young kids learn the game of golf and help them enjoy the sport as much as I did growing up. I'm currently the 1st Assistant Golf Professional at Arrowhead Golf Course in Wheaton and I couldn't have asked for a better place to call my home.

When did you start golfing and who introduced you to the game?
My Father was the reason I got into the game. At the age of 5 I was swinging the club in the back yard with dad on the weekends begging Dad to take me to the driving range. If it weren't for my father I don't think I would be where I'm at today and have such a love for the game.

What is your current home course?
My Home course is Arrowhead Golf Club in Wheaton, IL

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
Last year I had a chance to coach my first PGA Junior League team. I had a young junior on the first match of the season had a 20 foot putt for birdie. I told him to have some fun and make this putt, he responded " Coach, I'm not a good putter". I proceeded to give him thumbs up and told him to think positive and what do ya know, he made the putt with the biggest smile I've ever seen. To this day that was my proudest moment a golfer.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
I just can't stand it when people don't treat the course with respect. Fix your ball marks and replace your divots thats all any golfer could ask for.

What is your favorite club in your bag and why?
I just love my driver. Who doesn't like to see the ball go far?

What is your favorite golf destination?
I have always wanted to see Augusta during the Masters.

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
I would have to say Augusta hands down.

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
Chicago Golf Club.

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
Pace of play!!! I'm a big fan of the wile we're young commercials.

Dream foursome (living)?
Arnold Palmer
Phil Mickelson
Kevin Streelmen

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
Ben Hogan
Sam Sneed
Bobby Jones

18 Rapid Fire, Off The Cuff Questions

1) Hitting Long Drive OR Sinking Long Putt?
Long Drives

2) Having Round of Life OR Hole in One?
Round of a Life

3) Golfing at the crack of dawn OR twilight?
Crack of dawn

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

5) Beverage cart OR halfway house?
Both!!

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
When ya gotta go ya gotta go

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Hot dog

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

9) Walking OR riding?
Walking

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

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

12) Pants OR Shorts?
Pants

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Mr. Palmer

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Beatles

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

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

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Gamble

18) 18 holes OR 36?
36

Revised: 01/13/2015 - Article Viewed 35,859 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.