Mike Lehmann, Director of Golf Ironwood Golf Course

Interview With Mike Lehmann, Director of Golf Ironwood Golf Course

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Mike Lehmann, Director of Golf at Ironwood Golf Course. He has been working at golf courses since he was fifteen years old, both public and private. Some of the courses include Nagawaukee (WI), Innisbrook (FL), Lake Vista (FL) and Ironwood (WI).

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 was introduced to the game of golf by Pete Schlicht after graduating high school.

What is your current home course?
Ironwood Golf Course in Sussex, Wisconsin

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
Helping the outings that come to the course raise thousands of dollars for their charities and causes.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
In my opinion, life is too short for pet peeves.

What is your favorite club in your bag and why?
Though it's not really a club, my ball retriever is my most favorite tool in my bag....mostly because it is used the most and with the new grip I just put on it, it's ready for another season!

What is your favorite golf destination?
Innisbrook in Tarpon Springs, Florida

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
Augusta National

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
TPC Sawgrass, because the last time I was there I ignored the one shot rule on the Island Green Hole #17. I hit six balls and couldn't hit the green, so I would like to go back for another try.

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
Larger cups for amateur golfers....to speed up play and make the game more fun.

Dream foursome (living)?
My wife and my two daughters.

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
Jesus, Larry Bird, and Bruce Springsteen.

18 Rapid Fire, Off The Cuff Questions

1) Hitting Long Drive OR Sinking Long Putt?
Drive for show....putt for dough....I choose both.

2) Having Round of Life OR Hole in One?
Round of my life

3) Golfing at the crack of dawn OR twilight?
Crack of dawn....love to watch the sunrise and the smell of fresh cut grass.

4) Hit a power fade OR power draw?
Power Draw for extra yardage

5) Beverage cart OR halfway house?
Depends on who's working

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
Bathroom

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Wrap

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

9) Walking OR riding?
Walking with a caddy

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

11) Do you prefer long par 3 OR long par 5?
I'll tell you after I play them

12) Pants OR Shorts?
Pants because the last time I wore shorts on the course, someone told me they looked like out of bounds stakes.

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Palmer without a doubt

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Beatles because they were an all-star band

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
Money...always play for something

16) Bump and run OR flop shot?
Bump it....I can't flop it

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Gamble...go big or go home

18) 18 holes OR 36?
18...but 27 at Ironwood is the perfect number

Article Tags: Interview With Mike Lehmann

Revised: 02/06/2012 - Article Viewed 36,537 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.