By Keith Dunlap
With the dog days of winter here, people in Michigan who can’t travel south need to get creative to get their golf fix in.
Well, how about sitting and watching some golf movies?
There are plenty of great ones to get in the golfing spirit before the season starts, but here are our favorites.
- Caddyshack– This comedy is not only one of the funniest golf movies, but most hilarious films overall. It’s one of Tiger Woods’ favorite films and the legendary one-liners in this movie are recited by golfers all across the world. Centered around a caddie’s pursuit of a scholarship and a gopher, it features some of cinema’s greatest actors in Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield and Bill Murray.
- Happy Gilmore– Starring Adam Sandler, this movie was so funny and captivating that it got a lot of people who didn’t know about golf into the sport. The storyline revolves around a hockey player who has success playing the game through unconventional methods, but ultimately has to learn the finer points of golf in an effort to save his grandmother’s house and thwart an enemy. Oh, and there’s a fight scene with Bob Barker that is a classic.
- TinCup – This movie starring Kevin Costner and Rene Russo focuses on the romance of their two characters, Roy and Molly. The ending is a life lesson for everyone. In contention on the final hole at the U.S. Open, Roy decides to be true to his nature and go for the green on an approach shot over water, instead of laying up. The ball goes in the water. Several other repeated attempts go in the water as well. Still refusing to lay up and down to his last ball and disqualification, Roy holes the shot from the fairway for a legendary 12. He lost the tournament, but gained so much more.
- Seven Days in Utopia– A Christian drama film, this movie centers on a character, Luke Chisholm, who has a meltdown during a golf tournament and watches his father walk away. Chisholm then crashes his car into a fence in a rancher’s field, which leads to advice from a mentor (Robert Duval) that helped change his entire scope on life. Chisholm then gets a sponsor’s exemption into the PGA Tour “Texas Open” and ends up in a playoff with the world’s top golfer.
- The Greatest Game Ever Played– This is a rags-to-riches story that chronicles the golfing life of Francis Ouimet, who rises in golf despite being from a working-class family and not wealthy. At the beginning of the movie, Ouimet gets into the game by seeing British pro Harry Vardon play in an exhibition. At the end, he and Vardon are battling for the U.S. Open title.
- From The Rough– This is an inspiring tale of someone who becomes the first African-American woman to coach a men’s NCAA Division I golf team. To comprise the team, she finds underprivileged players from around the world while battling the school’s racist policies.
- Seve: The Movie– One of the most famous golfers ever is Seve Ballesteros, and this movie focuses on his rise from the farms of Spain as a child to becoming an all-time great.
- Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius– The dominant golfer of the 1920’s held a price for Bobby Jones, and this movie depicts how the drive he had for greatness had a negative impact on personal relationships, which was a reason for his early retirement.
