Let me add my concerns to this topic. If Mark is describing
Operation 36, then that's all well and good, but such a program is targeted at people who both are already committed to learning golf via instruction, and also have the means and have already received guidance that this is a good way to learn.
While this is all fine and good for children of club members, presenting this as a general solution to on-boarding players leaves significant barriers in place for the general public, because you need to already exist in the golf ecosystem to practically begin this way. It also presents new players with the same practice-first-and-play-later paradigm that we seem to expect from new players.
Golf should be fun, feel rewarding, and not make people feel miserable from day one. Imagine if courses had one set of back tees at 7000 yards, and higher handicaps were expected to "go hit from the fairway until you learn to play better." We have forward tees exactly because it should be fun for folks that aren't as skilled, and we should have the same type of formal infrastructure for beginners. That means quality putting courses, chipping courses, pitch & putts, and then finally short courses.
I may be too idealistic, but when I look at Scotland, where the game is deeply ingrained in the culture, we see these facilities. When I look at America, where the game is extremely niche, I see driving ranges, which people pretend are for beginners, but mostly serve advanced players.