Golf by David McPherson The Caddy (1953) Filmed on location at the swanky Riviera Country Club in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood of Los Angeles, this musical comedy features the loveable comedic duo of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. A fun piece of trivia from this movie: Martin’s song – “That’s Amore” – which was nominated for an Oscar, first appeared here and became one of the “King of Cool’s” signature songs. Some of the top PGA Tour professionals of the era, such as Sam Snead, Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson, all made cameos in The Caddy. Caddyshack (1980) For a movie filled with laughs which uses a golf course as the setting, nothing beats this cult classic. The slapstick comedy set at the fictional Bushwood Country Club, satirized life inside the gates of one of these tony playgrounds for the uber rich. Caddyshack featured some of the funniest men of their generation: Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield and Bill Murray. Chase plays the eccentric Buddhist-following character Ty Webb, who utters the oft-quoted line, “Be the ball.” The star, however, is Murray, playing assistant greenskeeper Carl Spackler, who battles throughout the movie with a pesky critter that chews up the fairways and greens at Bushwood. Tin Cup (1996) When it comes to one of the most authentic golf films ever made (and also one of the most successful), the vote goes to Tin Cup (1996). The film opened number one at the box office and earned $76 million, exceeding its budget by about $30 million. Spoiler alert: no happy Hollywood ending here. Instead, the climax sees the movie’s main character – washed-up club professional Roy McAvoy (played by Kevin Costner) – blow a chance to win the U.S. Open. Up by two shots, McAvoy makes a bad decision and ends up recording a 12 on the final hole… to lose. He was too proud to “lay up,” (i.e., he possessed an aggressive mindset that did not allow him to ever consider a safe, more strategic shot). Instead, he lived by the motto – “Go for broke!” This fictional character’s collapse has now become part of golf lingo. Any time a player, whether a professional in a high-stakes Golf on F I LM As I sat down to write this latest column, Netflix had just released Happy Gilmore 2. The sequel to the 1996 movie starring Adam Sandler was an ace in terms of viewership. According to Variety, 46.7 million people streamed the movie in its first three days of release, making it the biggest U.S. opening weekend in Netflix history. Watching Happy Gilmore 2 reminded me of the long relationship between Hollywood and the sport which I love. How many great (and not-so-great) golf films are part of cinema history. The first known feature-length golf movie was made in 1927 – the silent romantic comedy Spring Fever starring William Haines, the biggest box office star of the day. Ever since, golf has frequently starred on the big screen. No golf movie ever won an Oscar, but they’ve brought broader interest to the game, shared untold stories and, from some of the best, brought a lot of laughs and memorable lines which are now part of pop culture and our lexicon such as “just tap it in,” “be the ball” and a “Tin Cup moment.” For your consideration, here are my Top Five golf movies. 46 | www.snowbirds.org
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