As the last decade progressed, Golf Genius eventually emerged as the leader in tournament management software. Their client list is well into the thousands and spans the entire globe and at this point, there isn’t anyone even close to being a true competitor.
But what you may not know is how this all started. The humble beginnings took place in the Philadelphia suburbs when a retired software exec wanted to write a program that would make planning the annual golf trip a whole lot easier. So Golf Trip Genius was born. As it became evident that Golf Trip Genius wouldn’t scale at a level to sustain a business, it’s founder, Mike Zisman, targeted golf leagues at public courses and eventually recruited a local PGA Professional to help get his foot in the door with Golf Genius at private clubs.
As one of the first customers, I remember seeing this product for the first time. No doubt the TV leaderboards and the event portals were a cool feature, but it was going to take some time before this little company could take down the bigger names in tournament management.
Little did I know the level of determination, skill, and valuable experience that Mike brought to the table. And thanks to that, the efforts of 39 PGA Professionals, and the entire company, Golf Genius sits on top.
Yes, Golf Genius is a sponsor of this show, and I’m proud to have them as a partner, but I invited Mike on the show because I wanted to learn more about his story, more about his leadership philosophy, and how he plans to keep Golf Genius in it’s current position. As one of the innovators in email technology in the late 70’s, Mike has seen the entire internet age come to life. From the outside looking in, it’s been a privileged career but not without an incredible level of hard work and dedication along with more than his fair share of adversity.
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