
Bobby Jones Links to Manage Northern Kentucky's Traditions Golf Club
BJL to elevate recognition for Greater Cincinnati market's top private golf club
By Brian Weis
Bobby Jones Links (BJL), the golf industry's leading client-centric, boutique management company, proudly announces that it is now managing Hebron, Kentucky's Traditions Golf Club, an 18-hole golf haven tucked in the rolling hills outside of Cincinnati. BJL will work closely with the Traditions team to elevate the member experience and leverage the club's heritage and infrastructure to make the membership offering even more attractive and engaging.
The par-72 championship layout which has been one of the most respected golf properties in the region since 1992, delivers an unforgettable golfing and social experience. It boasts 400 acres of unspoiled natural terrain, challenging elevation changes, and native forests with abundant wildlife.
Now, BJL, which manages more than 30 properties in 12 states, will employ its unrivaled expertise to manage an already-vibrant club and infuse the member experience with elevated service and outside-the-box event and operational programming. BJL will also oversee daily operations and hire employees who will have access to its comprehensive library of proprietary tools, best management practices and expertly developed leadership training program.
"We have the opportunity to bring the Traditions team together and really establish a special common mission," said Doug Hellman, Chief Development Officer for Bobby Jones Links. "The other essential step is refining the member journey from beginning to end, from how members engage with staff when they come on property, until they leave. All of that enhances the value proposition of being a member at Traditions."
Traditions has been managed under the same private ownership group since it was acquired by local entrepreneurs David Brooks and Chris Penn in 1996. After an exhaustive search, the ownership selected BJL's expert team to lead Traditions into a proud next chapter. "We provided ownership assurances and peace of mind that we were aligned with their vision for the coming years and that the legacy of this club is in the right hands," Hellman continued. "There was a very strong understanding of their goals and trust in BJL to develop a dynamic working plan to achieve those goals as we run the day-to-day business in the most efficient ways possible."
The mission of Traditions has always been to respect the time-honored standards of the game while presenting golf as it should be to golfers in the metropolitan Cincinnati area. The club has also received numerous awards and hosted many of the state's biggest amateur and professional championships over the past three decades.
"We're excited to partner with Bobby Jones Links and to take advantage of their team's expertise in club operations to raise the club to even higher standards. We want the members, staff and ownership to continue to be proud of the operation," said Chris Penn. "Bobby Jones Links understands that our legacy is critical and the better the member experience, the stronger that legacy will become. We trust Bobby Jones Links to maintain the reputation of Traditions as one of the very best clubs in the region."
Traditions is perennially ranked inside the top 10 on Golf Digest's Best Clubs in Kentucky and has hosted Kentucky PGA Section championships, Greater Cincinnati Golf Association championships, the Kentucky Amateur, Kentucky Open and U.S. Amateur and U.S. Mid-Amateur qualifiers.
"If you're a golfer in that market, it's one of the top clubs to belong to," Hellman said. "It's not stuffy, it's not pretentious. It's a very welcoming environment focused on enjoying the game of golf. It's a great place to be."
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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.
Contact Brian Weis:
GolfTrips.com - Publisher and Golf Traveler
262-255-7600