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Trade In From the PGA
At 90, Dr. Jerry Weis Proves Golf Is Truly a Game for Life — 8-Time Club Champion Still Competing & Winning
By Tony Starks
Published on
Dr. Jerry Weis turned 90 in April and celebrated the way a lot of golfers would hope – quietly, then back to the course.
“It was actually low key. We went out to dinner and I had a very nice time with my soulmate,” he says. “Did I play golf? I don't remember. May have (he smirked), but did I play well? That much I can’t recall. That's one of the perks of being 90. You can always say you don't remember.”
The thing everyone at Vi at Bentley Village in Naples, Florida does remember is this: Weis recently won his eighth club championship, more than anyone in the community’s history. That would be impressive at any age. At 90 – and after two open-heart surgeries and a knee replacement – it feels almost mythical.
More Than a Club, A Community
Weis lights up when he describes the place.
“It's a beautiful senior retirement community, with a facility that sits on 156 acres,” he described. “Have an 18 hole par three golf course that’s senior friendly, but it's very challenging and picturesque with water on 12 holes.”
The golf program is robust, thanks to PGA Head Professional Stan Geer.
“A lot of our residents, they're still members at their other country clubs too, so they kind of bounce back and forth,” says Geer. “We do about 28,000 rounds a year, run about 240 golf events a year, pretty much what you get at a typical country club just on a smaller scale. Around 380 active golfers throughout the community.”
The campus also leans modern, and Weis loves the practice tools.
“We have a nice practice facility and two state-of-the-art simulators. Since we don't have room on campus for a full range, we get spoiled by the simulators and don't even need to go stand in the sun on a driving range.”
With such amazing amenities, of course, the “young” players keep showing up.
“People usually come in here when they're about 75 or 85, and these club championships get more difficult every year when you have these 75-year-old flat bellies moving in.”
However, it only takes 30 seconds with Weis to learn he never shies away from competition. Right after inviting PGA.com to experience Bentley Village, he asked about handicaps and started calculating the number of strokes he’d have to give.
“You might outperform me, but you won't outwork me,” he says. That’s always been his motto and it’s reflected in his life story.
Competitive Out of the Gate
As a 12-year-old caddie, he earned his loops and the elders’ respect with work ethic and a strong game. As one could imagine, you grow up quickly in a 1940s caddie shack. Some of those learnings left a lasting imprint.
“At that stage, I wasn’t planning on playing my whole life, but I certainly couldn’t picture my life without golf – if that makes sense,” he explains. “That really set the foundation for my competitive nature, in both golf and life.”
Weis went on to become a chiropractic doctor, blending his passion for both physical and mental health. Along the way, he came to recognize his own nature as a prototype “analytical driver' personality – logical, detail-oriented and results-driven.
“I guess it’s part of my DNA,” he says. “I love competition, I love challenges. And Lord knows that golf is the ultimate challenge. As hard as you try, but you never get it exactly right. For me, I enjoy practicing as much, if not more, than playing. It’s the challenge – and then seeing the work pay off in the results.
“I’m blessed with average ability, so the only option is to work harder.”
Geer sees the same thing every day.
“He does a lot of stuff correct with the golf swing, but as hard as he works at golf, he works that hard at fitness,” Geer says. “After playing, he'll usually go down to the fitness center to stretch and work on balance – if he’s not on the course, he’s in the gym. On top of that, he is a very astute, educated person on the golf swing and course strategy.
“As a PGA Professional, you watch certain people play and they never beat themselves. He's definitely one of them. No matter how he starts in these club championships, come the final day he usually reels 'em in and surpasses them. It's been fun to watch. He won't tell you this, but he also plays golf eight days a week.”
Weis, with effortless comedic timing: “That’s not true, I only play on days that end with ‘y’.”
The Roots of a Strong Friendship
Geer has known Weis for his entire tenure at Bentley Village.
“I've been here 12 years now,” he says. “I think it was my first day in the office. He goes, ‘Take a ride with me.’”
They took a golf car out the 8th hole, where a long-standing tree partially covers the green. Weis pointed and firmly asked: “What are you going to do about that?”
“I dunno, I’m not an arborist,” Geer quipped.
Over the last decade-plus, the tree has survived three hurricanes and multiple assassination attempts from Weis.
“I’ve tried copper nails, salt and pepper, I’ve tried everything!” Weis says with a belly-rumbling laugh. “But yes, it's still there.”
Geer’s solution was elegantly simple – and sneakily PGA-Pro smart.
“I quickly found the superintendent and said on days of the week when Dr. Weis plays, put the flag on the right side of the green so we don't have to worry about the tree.”
“I never knew you did that, Stan,” Weis responded. “I guess that was before you figured out I played on the days that end in ‘y’.”
Ouch.
A Championship Comeback
The battle to come back was real. After responding beautifully to his second open heart surgery, Weis still wasn’t sure he’d be well enough to play in the 2024 championship. His mindset was clear: winning wasn’t the goal, just the joy of having a club back in his hands and the flow of competition pumping through his veins.
Then came the gut check.
“The day before the tournament, I went out and played a few holes, took a few swings, and I said, ‘You are a fricking idiot. This is not going to work.’ So I packed it in and let someone else enjoy it.”
He didn’t sulk, instead he encouraged and watched as a friend soared. “A very good golfer and close friend, Eric Thom, won the title. But coming into the last round, he was six strokes and didn’t think he had a chance,” Weis reveals, sharing a story that made Geer sit up in his seat. “I said, yes, you do. Just focus on the next shot. Not the one before and not the one after it, just play the shot in front of you. And by golly, guess what? He did. I was more excited about him winning than had I won!”
In all fairness, Weis had won the prior four years in a row, so maybe it was time to give someone else a shot.
Through the PGA Professional lens, we asked Geer what other golfers bouncing back from an injury or medical procedure can learn from Weis:
“He was really good about listening to his own body, and knowing when not to push it too much. He plays early in the morning when it's not too hot, he knows his limitations and he will not overdo it. He never has. He prepares much like he plays: He will not make the dumb mistakes that everybody else seems to fall trap to.”
The eight-time champ summed it up simply: “It's always been my contention that the spoils in golf don't always go to the best players. Quite often they go to the smartest ones.”
Rivalries, a Playoff and a Little Trash Talk
Back in contention for 2025, this year’s title was decided by a playoff. You guessed it: Weis squared off against his good friend and the defending champ, Eric Thom.
“Unfortunately, on the first playoff hole, Eric hit a poor shot and that let me to win with a par,” Weis says, humbly. “There are at least a half a dozen golfers here who are better than me. They just don't know it, and I don't think I'm obligated to tell them. Eric’s probably one of them.”
If you haven’t figured it out by now, Weis is a master of the needle-with-a-smile. He enjoys a little banter on the course, and is never afraid to let his opponent know what he’s thinking – before, during or after the match.
“I live for the trash talk, that’s what makes it fun. Some people need to hear it, whether they like it or not!” his infectious laugh bellowing again. “So, we were playing this two-ball match the other day, and our opponents are four down with four holes to go. You can imagine, I'm really talking trash at this stage – but I'm actually doing it to motivate them. I wanted a match!
“Don’t you know it, they kept playing better and better; winning the last four holes and we broke even. And to me, that's fun.”
Occasionally Geer will join in on some of the matches, which Weis appreciates because he gets three extra shots from the 10th ranked senior golfer in the South Florida PGA Section. However, don’t think for a second that the pro is safe from heckling.
“These guys are tough. They may be 80 or 90, but don't feel sorry for them,” he grins and confirms the standard. “If I don't shoot 5 or 6 under, I’m losing and the next morning I’m going to hear about it from everybody.”
PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) and Perspective
Weis’s North Star is his positive mental attitude.
“It’s simple, I believe your attitude determines your altitude,” he says. “We all have choices in life. You can choose to be a positive individual or a negative one – but if you just stay positive, it's amazing what you can accomplish. That applies to life and golf. It’s so difficult and such a challenge, you’ll never perfect it. Hell, I saw Stan shank one the other day.”
Weis loves the power of positivity that’s surged from Geer’s golf program at Bentley Village. Over the years, he’s watched countless 75, 80 and 85-year-old golfers join their community after giving up on golf for any number of reasons. Because regulation courses became too difficult, it was too expensive or simply took too long.
“Then they come here and they see what we’ve built. They find a course that’s challenging but friendly to them, and only takes two and a half hours. They find a community,” he says, letting his voice quiver slightly on that last part. “They get excited about the game, they resurrect their golfing career instead of sitting in front of a TV watching other people play. What a deal.”
As a PGA Professional, we always take the mantra of growing the game, and here I get to do that by keeping people involved, keeping them active and getting back feeling the joy of camaraderie.
Stan Geer, PGA Head Professional
There’s one other way Geer grows the game. During the holidays, Bentley Village is teeming with grandkids – with their miles of bike paths humming with the sounds of e-bikes and training wheels. Three generations come together to enjoy the outdoors, and golf is at the center of it.
“This course is perfect for family golf,” smiles Weis. “Grandparents and their grandkids playing from the same tee boxes – what more can you ask for?”
What’s Next With Weis
Even with eight club championships, 21 holes in one and a Bentley Village course record (47), Weis is far from done.
“I warned Eric that I'm coming for him again next year,” he proclaims. “In fact, I’ve already started my prep. You see when you're not that good, you have to try hard. But it's fine, what else do I have to do?”
When accused of sandbagging and down playing his ability, he quickly jabs back: “I’m just a realist. I’m OK if someone is better than me. I’m OK if they beat me. I’m not OK if they out work me.”
Beyond adding to his trophy case, there’s a very specific side quest he’s still pursuing.
“We have a lady here, Peg, and she is probably 97 or 98 years old – cute as a button and a wonderful woman. She claims to have 22 holes in one, and I want to beat her,” he says. “When I had 10, she claimed to have 20. When I got to 21, she had 22. If I get to 23, I think she'll quit stretching the truth and admit defeat.”
One thing is clear, both Peg and Dr. Weis are shining examples of golf being a game for a lifetime. In his signature style of vivid storytelling, he offers advice for any golfer hoping to remain competitive in the face of Father Time.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever seen dog sledding, but there’s an old saying: If you ain’t the lead dog, the view never changes,” he says with a wry smile. “Even at 90, I still set goals and I’m able to accomplish most of them. It’s a simple recipe. Stay fit, stay active, keep stretching and work on your balance.
“I’m having a really good ride, and I want to stay in front of the pack for as long as I can.”
