Caleb Turbett

Interview With Caleb Turbett, Oak Glen

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Caleb Turbett the Director of Golf at Christmas Mountain Village. 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?
My first job was at Christmas Mountain working in the bag room at age 14. When I was 15, I moved to the bag room at Trappers Turn where I stayed for 12 years, leaving as Head Golf Professional. In 2010, I accepted the position of Director of Golf at Christmas Mountain. I started at Oak Glen mid-season in 2012.

When did you start golfing and who introduced you do the game?
My grandfather introduced me to the game at age 3 by hitting balls in the backyard. I started playing on the course with him and my dad when I was 5 and never looked back.

What is your current home course?
Christmas Mountain Village

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
Professionally, my proudest accomplishment would be gaining my Class A status in January. On the course, it would have to be not missing one tournament in all four years I played at Winona State.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
Driving your cart through a no-mow area!

What is your favorite club in your bag and why?
Probably driver. I like to hit it on every hole and if it's a good day with the driver, I will play well.

What is your favorite golf destination?
I haven't been to very many yet, so I will have to say Kohler.

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
Obviously, Augusta. A more realistic one would be St. Andrews, Pebble or Sawgrass.

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
Whistling Straits (Straits course)

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
Tee It Forward is a great initiative. I see far too many players playing from the wrong set of tees. The game is not meant to be played hitting 3 woods into every par 4.

Dream foursome (living)?
Tiger, Couples & my dad

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
Tiger, my dad & my grandpa

18 Rapid Fire, Off The Cuff Questions

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

2) Having Round of Life OR Hole in One?
Round of 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?
Beverage cart

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
Bathroom

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Hot dog

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

9) Walking OR riding?
Riding

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?
Shorts

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Nicklaus

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Beatles

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
Money

16) Bump and run OR flop shot?
Flop shot

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Gamble

18) 18 holes OR 36?
18

Revised: 07/18/2012 - Article Viewed 32,323 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.