Tech Caddie

Mike Hendrix
  • 5.0 (14)
  • Technology
  • Updated Biweekly

In these podcasts, we host in-depth conversations with leading golf course technologists and operators, providing our listeners with direct access to the voices and minds shaping the golf management software industry. These discussions delve into a range of pertinent topics, from emerging technological trends to practical challenges faced in daily operations. This interactive format allows us to explore the nuances of the golf course technology landscape, offering our audience a richer, more engaging way to stay informed and inspired. By bringing these experts together, our podcast serves as a vibrant forum for exchanging ideas, sharing success stories, and discussing strategies to navigate the evolving world of golf course technology.

  1. Aug 4

    Golf District Hatches Their Golden Egg

    What if any "sold out" tee time was actually available — for the right price? On this episode of Tech Caddie, Mike Hendrix sits down with Kevin Kalner, co-founder and co-CEO of Golf District, to unpack how his team built a B2B, StubHub-inspired marketplace that lets golfers resell prepaid tee times, extends booking windows out to a year, and is about to launch patent-pending "unsolicited offer" technology that could change how courses price demand.

    Golf District Hatches Their Golden Egg

  2. Jul 31

    Notify Acquires Metolius: Ross Liggett on Golfer Data, RevPAT, and the AI Booking War

    Ross Liggett co-founded Metolius, the golf industry's leading data consolidation platform, and just sold it to Noteefy — where he's now VP of Data. In this episode, Mike Hendrix sits down with Ross for a candid look at the deal, the road that got him there, and where booking technology is headed next. They cover: - Ross's path from hospitality school to Kemper Sports to Landscapes Golf Management to founding Metolius - The real story behind the "RevPAR vs. RevPAT" debate in golf revenue management - Why Metolius built its platform around raw transaction-level data instead of top-down financials - A direct conversation about Noteefy's data privacy policy — what happens to golfer data, who controls it, and what changes (and doesn't) post-acquisition - Why Ross believes Noteefy has the best sales team in golf, pound for pound - The six disconnected data sources operators need to actually measure marketing ROI - Noteefy's booking engine push and what "connected analytics" really means for course operators - Why Ross thinks LLMs (not browsers) will become the primary way golfers book tee times — and what that means for course websites - The "build it yourself" alternative and the golf tech SaaS-pocalypse If you're a golf course owner, operator, or anyone working in golf tech, this is a rare inside look at both sides of an acquisition and a real conversation about where golfer data is headed.

    Notify Acquires Metolius: Ross Liggett on Golfer Data, RevPAT, and the AI Booking War

  3. Jul 14

    Jon Last on NGCOA Pulse Report, Golf Data, and the K‑Shaped Economy

    Mike Hendrix talks with Jon Last, president and founder of Sports and Leisure Research Group, about the latest NGCOA Business Pulse Report and what the data reveals about the state of the golf business. Jon explains the report’s methodology—surveying over 200 NGCOA member facilities and conducting 20 in‑depth interviews with owners and operators—to create a four‑year trend line on attitudes, performance, and investment priorities.

    Jon Last on NGCOA Pulse Report, Golf Data, and the K‑Shaped Economy

  4. Jul 3

    Jay Karen talks challenges and tech for the NGCOA

    Host: Mike Hendrix (smbGOLF) Guest: Jay Karen (CEO, National Golf Course Owners Association) In this Tech Caddie episode, Mike talks with NGCOA CEO Jay Karen about the realities of running a national association, the role of technology and booking engines in golf course operations, and how AI is reshaping what operators can measure and manage. They discuss NGCOA’s growth from roughly 3,000 to about 4,200 courses, membership penetration across municipal, private, and daily-fee facilities, and why education and advocacy remain NGCOA’s two “crown jewels.” The conversation then shifts to the “Measure What Matters” webinar, the importance of booking engine data (visits, clicks, drop-offs), and why conversion rate should be a core metric for every operator. Mike and Jay also preview the upcoming AI workshop in Atlanta, where operators will learn how to use AI to read booking engine data and produce daily performance summaries without adding time to their day. They explore dynamic pricing, legal concerns around AI and competitive data, and compare Airbnb’s smart-pricing tools to what golf operators should expect from their software partners. Later, Jay walks through NGCOA’s internal tech stack (Salesforce-based AMS, Higher Logic community, and the Rossi AI assistant) and the strategic challenges of prioritization and growth on a modest budget. Mike shares his work with Ohio and Pennsylvania associations, including HubSpot + WordPress integrations and digital branding designed to create FOMO and drive membership. If you’re a golf course owner, operator, or marketer who wants to get more out of your booking engine, understand your data, and start using AI in practical ways, this episode is for you.

    Jay Karen talks challenges and tech for the NGCOA

  5. Jun 3

    Connor Van Gilder Brings Design to Golf Technology with Trutee Golf

    In this episode of the Tech Caddie Podcast, host Mike Hendrix sits down with Connor Van Gilder, founder of Trutee Golf, to explore the concept of digital hospitality and his mission to reinvent the golf technology landscape. The conversation centers on the philosophy captured by the episode title: The Trutee Golf North Star: Seamless, Considered and Intentional. Connor, whose background is in product design for complex enterprise solutions at companies like Zonos and Entrata, explains why he believes the digital tools surrounding golf—the tee sheet and point of sale (POS)—must be as thoughtfully designed as the golf course itself. Key discussion points: Design as Efficiency: Why great design is essential for eliminating technical debt and driving massive operational efficiency, reducing staff training time, and cutting down on clicks for day-to-day tasks like issuing refunds.1 AI and Modern Development: How Trutee uses a modern tech stack (TypeScript and Next.js) and leverages AI not just for chat interfaces, but for "just-in-time" prompts (like automatically suggesting no-show charges) to help operators work smarter.1 Operational Clarity: The importance of giving operators the data they need—such as learning that 65% of all bookings are coming from mobile—and how Trutee provides critical business analytics that legacy systems often neglect.1 The Open API Vision: Connor argues that a closed platform approach stunts industry growth and advocates for a future where open APIs allow collaborators to easily build new tools and integrations, ultimately giving golf courses the best possible toolset.1 The First Customer: Insights into the challenging, but validating, experience of securing the City of St. George, Utah as their first municipal customer, and how Trutee solved major pain points related to complex reporting and financing that previously took hours of manual work.1 Guest Contact Connor Van Gilder, Trutee Golf: Connor@trutee.app Website: www.trutee.app

    Connor Van Gilder Brings Design to Golf Technology with Trutee Golf

  6. Mar 13

    Why This Hall of Famer Refuses to Give Up His Tee Sheet

    In this episode of the Tech Caddie Podcast, Mike Hendrix welcomes Southern California Golf Hall of Famer John McNair, VP of Golf Operations for JC Resorts. With 26 years at the helm and a portfolio of 21 courses, John shares the "silver bullet" behind their 24,000-member affinity program and why controlling your own data is the ultimate competitive advantage. Key Takeaways: The Power of the Card: How the JC Players Card creates loyalty and stabilizes revenue through three recessions. Saying No to "The Crack": Why John avoids third-party aggregators to protect his rate integrity and "RevPATT." The Robot Revolution: Why 100% of JC Resorts courses will utilize autonomous mowing by 2027. Prepaid Logic: Using Golf District to guarantee foursomes and increase average public rates by nearly $30 per round. Guest Bio: John McNair is the VP of Golf Operations for JC Resorts and a recent inductee into the Southern California Golf Hall of Fame. A former PGA Section President, John is widely regarded as one of the sharpest business minds in the golf industry. 00:00 Introduction and Background of John McNair 02:06 Transition from Chicago to Southern California 04:57 Family Business and Golf Heritage 07:51 Business Acumen in Golf Management 10:53 Creating a Successful Golf Card Program 13:49 Navigating Technology in Golf Operations 16:37 The Future of Golf Technology and AI 19:10 Prepaid Tee Times and Revenue Strategies 24:23 Revenue Optimization in Golf Courses 29:33 The Future of AI in Golf Operations 39:16 The Role of PGA Professionals in Golf 44:14 Navigating the Golf Business Landscape 51:08 Tech-Caddie-Open-Close.mp4

    Why This Hall of Famer Refuses to Give Up His Tee Sheet

  7. Feb 4

    Mike Zisman on Golf Genius Growth, Racquet Sports, and Staying Independent

    In a wide-ranging conversation with host Mike Hendrix, Zisman shares how a lifelong builder’s mindset—spanning early work in AI and enterprise software through the founding of Golf Genius—helped shape one of the most widely adopted tournament and scoring platforms in golf. The episode highlights Zisman’s early path from academia to entrepreneurship, including building and selling a company to Lotus Development Corporation and later operating inside IBM. Zisman describes Golf Genius’ beginnings as a personal scheduling challenge for buddy trips, where optimization and fairness mattered as much as the golf itself. He recounts an unusual turning point: the first developer hired via an outsourced marketplace ultimately became the leader of Golf Genius’ large development organization in Romania. “Mike Zisman is one of the most tenacious builders I’ve met in golf,” said Mike Hendrix, President of smbGOLF and host of Tech Caddie. “This episode is a masterclass in focus—how to win by serving the golf professional, sweating operational details, and never losing the paranoia that keeps a software company sharp.” The discussion also covers Golf Genius’ go-to-market strategy—specifically the intentional decision to build deep trust with PGA Professionals and hire customer-facing staff who understand tournament operations firsthand. Zisman explains that tournament management isn’t a single market, but a set of distinct segments—from small groups to clubs to regional and national associations—each with different requirements. A central theme of the episode is the partnership with United States Golf Association, which Zisman calls the company’s “transformational event.” The conversation details how tournament management adoption scaled through associations and how Golf Genius later became the USGA’s technology arm for handicapping in support of the World Handicap System rollout. In addition, Zisman outlines why Golf Genius has expanded beyond tournaments into “what the golf professional does every day”: golf shop operations and coaching. That includes acquisitions such as Operation 36 and the integration of video-based coaching via CoachNow—positioning the company as a suite rather than a single-feature product. The episode closes with forward-looking updates, including Golf Genius’ growing attention to off-course golf and the development of tournament management products for racquet sports (tennis, pickleball, and padel). Zisman also shares that the company is exploring a minority recap—bringing in new investment capital to offer optional liquidity for early employees and shareholders, including himself, after years of reinvesting in growth.

    Mike Zisman on Golf Genius Growth, Racquet Sports, and Staying Independent

  8. Jan 16

    Golf tee times hitting ChatGPT - Primo!!

    In this Tech Caddie episode, Mike Hendrix talks with Apparation’s Jason Patronas and Mike Dickoff about a major shift in tee time discovery: live tee time availability inside ChatGPT. They explain what Primo Tee Times is (an availability engine, not a marketplace), why discovery friction prevents golfers from playing more, and how an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server bridges ChatGPT to real-time golf course availability across many different tee sheet systems. Key topics: What Primo Tee Times does for golfers and golf course operators Why “availability aggregators” are gaining momentum MCP explained in plain English The emerging ChatGPT app ecosystem and what it could mean for golf Scraping concerns, server load, and why “on-demand” availability matters Why this should drive more bookings to golf course websites (not away from them) If you’re a golf course operator, tee sheet provider, or golf tech builder, this is a look at what’s coming next.

    Golf tee times hitting ChatGPT - Primo!!
See All (50)

5
out of 5
14 Ratings

About

In these podcasts, we host in-depth conversations with leading golf course technologists and operators, providing our listeners with direct access to the voices and minds shaping the golf management software industry. These discussions delve into a range of pertinent topics, from emerging technological trends to practical challenges faced in daily operations. This interactive format allows us to explore the nuances of the golf course technology landscape, offering our audience a richer, more engaging way to stay informed and inspired. By bringing these experts together, our podcast serves as a vibrant forum for exchanging ideas, sharing success stories, and discussing strategies to navigate the evolving world of golf course technology.

Information

  • Creator
    Mike Hendrix
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    50
  • Show Website
    Tech Caddie

You Might Also Like