The golf course where Michael Wagner learned the game is now busier than ever, and the 32-year-old Moscow native has played a huge role in the surge.

Wagner, head golf professional at the University of Idaho Golf Course since June 2022, is the tip of the spear — the distinctly bearded face — of a golfing revival at Moscow’s only 18-hole golf course.

It’s a place that even five or six years ago was almost empty most summer weekday afternoons; a place where a golfer could play a leisurely round interrupted only by ground squirrels and perhaps a hissing handful of Canada Geese.

“Sometimes I wish we could go back to that,” Wagner joked this week, channeling nostalgia for a time perhaps his stress levels were less, but opportunities to play a quick nine more frequent.

The UI Golf Course in 2023 hosted 22,000 rounds of golf, a number Wagner said is up significantly over the prior year and the best the course has ever seen. Already during the first month of play in 2024, there have been weekend days when every tee time at the course, about 280, has been filled. He remembers days in the past decade when the course might have had only a few dozen tee times on the books.

Since 2020, when golf across the nation experienced an uptick in popularity as a way to escape COVID-19 social distancing restrictions, the UI Golf Course has continued to ride the wave.

The course has remodeled its pro shop, upgraded its indoor simulator lounge, unveiled a new web site complete with drone footage of every hole, and added some panache with The Lookout Restaurant and Bar, where diners are encouraged to “eat, sip and unwind.”

With all the physical improvements, perhaps the biggest change at the course is a dedication to finding, teaching and retaining new golfers, and for that, Wagner has been key.

This past fall, Wagner earned a pair of awards for his work at the course, specifically in his role as an ambassador and teacher of the game. Wagner earned the Professional Golfers’ Association of America’s Player Development Award from the Inland Empire Chapter of the PGA, and an international Top 50 Coach Award from the Operation 36 organization.

Wagner said he is perhaps most proud of the award from the PGA, which was voted on by a committee of his golf professional peers from courses across the region.

Yet the Operation 36 program has created the most buzz at the course and among its participants.

Since taking over as head pro at the course (he was the UI assistant pro for about eight years prior), the number of players participating in the program has grown from about 10 in 2022 to 120 in 2023. This year, 42 have already signed up for the first of three 8-week “semester” planned for the spring and summer.

The Operation 36 program is for new golfers of any age, and combines some traditional teaching with a slew of games, drills and regular competition to keep players engaged.

Sometimes Wagner plays music at the gatherings. And there’s a phone app where players create a profile and keep track (and score points) for all things golf.

Even washing clubs can earn points for a participant. Those points are totaled to create a score for each program across the world. Last August, the UI Golf Course climbed as high as No. 5 in the Operation 36 international rankings.

“The whole purpose of the program is for people to enjoy the game,” Wagner said. “There’s less pressure, less intimidation. There’s a social aspect to it.”

Wagner, who played four years of golf at Moscow High, said when he realized his talents would not likely take him to the professional tours, he switched gears.

“I learned how much I loved teaching,” he said.

Phillip Hagen, a 38-year-old Moscow resident, had never played golf when he ran into Wagner in the spring of 2023.

An accomplished amateur bowler in the region, Hagen was looking for a summer activity when he registered for his first Operation 36 session. This spring, he’s playing in his fourth session, and hopes to play bogey golf from the forward tees at the UI, something many golfers might take years to accomplish, if ever.

“Michael’s coaching style matches my learning style perfectly,” said Hagen, who admits he might be a bit more driven and competitive than the average beginner. “But that’s what I’ve noticed about Michael. He takes the time to get to know each student, and treats all students a little differently depending on what they need.”

Find the UI Golf Course website at vandalgolf.com. For more on Operation 36, go to operation36golf.com/landing/1763.