Interview With Clark Sinclair Director of Golf Palmetto Dunes Resort

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Clark Sinclair, the Director of Golf at Palmetto Dunes Resort. 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?
Started with Palmetto Dunes Resort in 1983 as an assistant and have held the Head Professional positions at George Fazio, Arthur Hills and the Robert Trent Jones over the period.

When did you start golfing and who introduced you to the game?
I started pulling Dad's cart at the Navy/Marine course in Hawaii. At 11 years old my first round was on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor.

What is your current home course?
Palmetto Dunes Resort comprised of the Robert Trent Jones, George Fazio and Arthur Hills courses.

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
Hosting the Golf World/Palmetto Dunes Collegiate until 2000. It was an honor providing hospitality to the families, coaches and players.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
Non Adherence to signage

What is your favorite club in your bag and why?
"Vintage" Taylor Made Raylor 16. Forgiving, long and partners wonder why I still have it.

What is your favorite golf destination?
Palmetto Dunes Resort. It's vacation all year.

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
Saint Andrews

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
May River Club

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
Leave it to the ruling body

Dream foursome (living)?
Bill Murry, Lee Trevino, Arnold Palmer

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
Sam Snead, Dad, Grandfather.

18 Rapid Fire, Off The Cuff Questions

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

2) Having Round of Life OR Hole in One?
Round of my life. No HIO yet.

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

4) Hit a power fade OR power draw?
I wish I could hit a power draw.

5) Beverage cart OR halfway house?
Halfway house

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
Bathroom

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Dog

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

9) Walking OR riding?
Riding

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

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

12) Pants OR Shorts?
Either

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Palmer

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Elvis

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
Fun, hard to get paid.

16) Bump and run OR flop shot?
Bump

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Gamble

18) 18 holes OR 36?
18

Revised: 06/05/2013 - Article Viewed 32,941 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.