Interview With Joe Massanova Director of Business Development TPC Las Vegas By Brian Weis

Interview With Joe Massanova Director of Business Development TPC Las Vegas

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Joe Massanova, the Director of Business Development at TPC Las Vegas. 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 have loved golf since the age of 6, even when it wasn't cool......... Moving from NJ to AZ I attended ASU with Phil Mickelson. When I realized I could make a living in the golf industry, I jumped at the chance, selling golf vacations in AZ. After years of selling golf vacations and working at a golf resort, I transitioned to work for the PGA TOUR. Gaining experience as a Tournament Coordinator at the TPC Scottsdale, I was given an opportunity to work as the Sales and Marketing Director for TPC Las Vegas. After years of success, I went to work at TPC Jasna Polana as the National Group Sales Manager for the TPC Network. Successfully launching that new position, I retained my original position and true passion....working as the Director of Business Development at the TPC Las Vegas.

When did you start golfing and who introduced you to the game?
I started golfing at the age of 6 after being given a few clubs that didn't sell from a local garage sale. As a child, miniature golf down at the Jersey Shore was a favorite past time. I have not stopped loving the game since then.

What is your current home course?
TPC Las Vegas

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
Being recognized as the sales and Marketing Director for the TPC Network in 2005, 2006 and 2014 as well as 40 under 40 Young Professionals Award in Las Vegas 2006. Also........playing Pine Valley...a childhood dream.

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?
Ignorance

What is your favorite club in your bag and why?
Hybrid...off the tee, in the rough, from the fairway or around the green. Many uses and new technology makes it a fun club to play.

What is your favorite golf destination?
Ireland

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?
Royal County Down

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?
Faster Pace of Play...it shouldn't take over 3 hours.

Dream foursome (living)?
My family

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
My Family

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?
Hole in one

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

4) Hit a power fade OR power draw?
Draw

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?
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?
Par 3's

12) Pants OR Shorts?
Pants

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Palmer

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Beatles

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
Fun

16) Bump and run OR flop shot?
Bump

17) Lay up OR gamble?
Gamble

18) 18 holes OR 36?
18

Revised: 11/24/2015 - Article Viewed 32,476 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.