GOLF CAN BE FUN--REALLY: The sport doesn't have to be a good walk spoiled, an innovative golf pro is proving with Operation 36.

• Author: King, Brad
• Position: NC TREND >>> Golf

Ryan Dailey has nightmarish memories of his first time on a golf course. "It was so frustrating," he recalls about his round at Ray Brook Golf Club in upstate New York. "I lost so many golf balls and shot 130 the first time I played. I don't know why I continued."

He not only continued, he became a PGA Class A Professional and a full-time faculty member at Campbell University, where he was assistant director of the business schools golf management program. After teaching courses, Dailey gave lessons at Campbells home course, Keith Hills Golf Club in Buies Creek. While there, he contemplated ways to increase participation on the golf course by making it fun to learn the game. He concluded that a holistic, trackable method should start with families, particularly junior golfers.

In 2011, after trying several strategies, Dailey conducted the first Operation 36 Golf clinic at Keith Hills with about a dozen beginning golfers. The structure now includes weekly clinics and nine-hole leagues and progress monitoring through the Operation 36 app, which allows clubs to compete internationally.

Eleven years since its inception, nearly 100,000 new players in 16 countries have taken part in Operation 36 training, which is offered at 53 courses in North Carolina and 22 in South Carolina. They run the gamut from high-end private clubs to municipal layouts. Participation from adults and children is roughly equal. The cost averages about $360 for an eight-week program with courses receiving some of the revenue.

"We went in thinking that we were going to serve the families at Keith Hills (Country Club) in Harnett County," Dailey says. It has gradually spread around the world "a lot faster than we had ever imagined."

In February, Golf Genius Software bought Garner-based Operation 36 for an undisclosed amount. The Wayne, Pennsylvania-based company provides tournament scoring software for nearly a third of the worlds 30,000 golf courses. It also sells software to manage pro shops. Founder and co-CEO Mike Zisman says the two companies "have a shared vision of...