Entrepreneurship, USGA partnership, product strategy, and the future of tournament management—now live across all major platforms
The Tech Caddie Podcast, hosted by Mike Hendrix, has released a new episode featuring Michael Zisman, Founder and Executive Chairman of Golf Genius.
The episode is now available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and at GolfCourseTechnologyReviews.org, delivering one of the most comprehensive public conversations to date on Zisman’s entrepreneurial journey and the strategic evolution of Golf Genius.
In the episode, Zisman reflects on more than four decades of building and scaling software companies—beginning with Soft-Switch, an enterprise email interoperability platform that served 85 of the Fortune 100 and was later acquired by Lotus, and subsequently IBM. He shares lessons learned from serving on IBM’s worldwide management council and explains why leadership—particularly technologist leadership—matters most in software-driven companies.
The conversation then turns to the founding of Golf Genius in 2009, which began as a personal solution for organizing a complex annual golf trip and evolved into one of the most widely used tournament management platforms in the world. Zisman details how Golf Genius intentionally shifted from buddy trips to leagues, then to the club market, and ultimately to national and international governing bodies.
A central focus of the episode is Golf Genius’s partnership with the USGA, which Zisman describes as the company’s “transformational event.” He explains how the Tournament Management System (TMS) rollout led to adoption by 53 of 57 Allied Golf Associations and paved the way for Golf Genius to build and operate the World Handicap System in the United States and more than 20 countries worldwide.
Additional topics explored include:
- Why Golf Genius sells to PGA Professionals—not general managers—and employs dozens of PGA members in customer-facing roles
- The company’s decision to avoid tee sheet and POS development in favor of deep partnerships with club management systems
- Expansion into coaching, payments for outings (processing roughly $300 million annually), and racket sports such as tennis and pickleball
- How Golf Genius approaches competition, innovation, and internal “healthy paranoia”
- Employee ownership, long-term independence, and why the company is exploring a minority recap rather than a traditional exit
“This episode goes well beyond product talk,” said Hendrix. “Michael Zisman offers a rare, candid look at what it takes to build enduring software companies, how Golf Genius thinks about partnerships instead of dominance, and why focus—not feature sprawl—is still a competitive advantage in golf technology.”
The discussion also examines the rapidly growing off-course and entertainment golf market, the importance of “stickiness” through leagues and coaching, and how Golf Genius is investing heavily in development and AI to support tournament operations at every level of the game.
Episode Availability
The Tech Caddie Podcast episode featuring Michael Zisman is available now:
- YouTube
- Apple Podcasts
- Spotify
- org
About the Tech Caddie Podcast
The Tech Caddie Podcast explores the business, technology, and leadership shaping modern golf operations. Hosted by Mike Hendrix, the show features candid conversations with founders, operators, and industry leaders who are building, challenging, and redefining the golf technology landscape.
About Mike Hendrix
Mike Hendrix is President of smbGOLF and host of the Tech Caddie Podcast. He works with golf courses, associations, and technology companies across North America to help them make smarter decisions about software, data, and digital strategy.
