The CSGA Links Volume 6 Issue 1 April, 2018 | Page 22

INSTRUCTION
Operation 36

Working from the green backward is key. “I read that Tiger’s dad did that with him. It makes all the sense
in the world,” says Bulger, who has been at Patterson for ten years and taught the program for the last four.

“First of all, they learn how important putting is. If you can’t putt, you’re not going to shoot 36. Some kids
will putt from 25 yards. But then after the chipping class they realize, hey, I’ve got another option to make that
shot. I’ve got another tool.”

Kids also learn strategy and how to deal with the pressure. “What’s key is that it’s objective. When they
reach a goal they know nothing was handed to them. You should see how they celebrate. They jump up like little
rocket ships. Because they earned it.”

Not to mention the fact that they grow up expecting to shoot 36 for 9 holes. As one Canadian pro said,
“I wish I’d learned golf this way!’

Even off-course instruction is “gamified.” A chipping or putting lesson becomes the “pirate” game in
which plastic target rings, when reached with a putt or chip, are then placed on cones that represent ships. “Kids
know how to hit putts or chips, but they don’t always know how to make
them stop at the right point. This makes a game out of it. And it adds a One pro said:
storytelling element that makes the instruction stick.”

This gamification is an element that Operation 36 founders Matt “I wish I’d learne
Reagan and Ryan Dailey have emphasized since the birth of the pro-
gram at Campbell University eight years ago. The network of facilities
using the program has now grown to about 100 in the U.S. and Canada.
In November PGA Junior Leages announced a partnership with Op 36. Bulger uses an accompanying app to
track students’ progress, and teach them to do the same. Besides scores, the app tracks practice hours and loads
video lessons.

It all seems to be working. “Our numbers keep growing,” he says. Last spring the Patterson program had
76 kids, about a third girls, and each year Patterson has seen an increase of 28% in participation, a manageable
level of growth, he feels. “We haven’t grown too fast. It’s a good pace.”

In some Operation 36 programs parents caddie for their kids, but because the Patterson program is mid-
week, staff members accompany the juniors, a plus for the staff. “We have so many ‘aha’ moments out there
watching them,” he says. “Even the idea that just keeping score is something they have to learn.”

To Bulger, Operations 36 is a natural. “I can’t see why other facilities wouldn’t want to do it. It’s struc-
tured. It’s objective. And it’s fun for the kids. When parents tell me their kids are enjoying golf more than other
sports, I know we’ve done well. Because we have a really good tennis program.”
golf this way!”
Patterson juniors like this new approach
P
GA professional Mike Bulger of the Patterson Club in Fair-
field thinks we teach golf backwards. That’s why his popular junior classes
are built around Operation 36, a new program out of North Carolina, that
does everything Mike likes:
—It teaches golf from the green back, not the other way around.
—It emphasizes on-course, as opposed to on-the-range, instruction.
—It makes a game out of everything.

Here’s how Operation 36 works:

During a 10-week “semester,” kids learn in the classroom, on the
range, and most important, during on-course challenges called “match-
es” that test their playing ability. Kids begin by playing each hole from the
25-yard mark. When they score 36 for 9 holes from 25 yards, they move back to 50, then 75, then 100 and so
on.

“We tend to spend so much time on the range. Other sports don’t do that,” says Bulger, Director of
Player Development under Head Professional Chris Kenney. “Playing the game is the whole thing. And this
program teaches that. We had a six-year-old, Chase Martin, get to the 100-yard distance in his third match.
That’s pretty amazing. But I told his parents, now he’s going to be there awhile.” Students are organized accord-
ing to age, from 4-6 to high school. When kids find their challenge point, as Bulger calls it, they tend to stay in
it on average for 14 months. That’s when the learning really happens.
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