Sunday, April 03, 2011

Golf at the Movies

There have been a number of golf films over the decades. Some of these have been good films, featuring plenty of great golfing action. Here are a few of the best golf films.

Tin Cup:

Tin Cup starred Costner as Tin Cup, a great golf pro who is inspired to resurrect his golfing career by Molly Griswold. Tin Cup qualifies for the US Open, and is among the leaders going into the closing holes. Only an ambitious shot over the water onto the green prevents Tin Cup from US Open glory, which lands in the water a number of times before going in the hole. And here is that great final shot, on video:



Caddyshack:

Caddyshack is another great golf film, starring Chase and Rodney Dangerfield. The film set a benchmark for comedy sport films with some hilarious golf scenes. It was also followed by the sequel Caddyshack 2. As such, it's also the only golf film with a sequel. This classic film even had its own TV ad released over a decade later when Woods starred as Spackler in the American Express Caddyshack commercial.


The Greatest Game Ever Played:

This golf film is one that covers the history of the sport in greater detail. The film is based on the true story of Ouitment's victory at the 1913 US Open, with the screenplay adapted from the book The Greatest Game Ever Played: Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet, and the Birth of Modern Golf. Ouitment was the first amateur to win the US Open, finishing ahead of Vardon. As such, it's an interesting film and one of few that covers historically significant golf championships.

These are a few of the best golf films. Tin Cup, the Caddyshack films, and The Greatest Game Ever Played are four of the best golf films available on DVD.

2 comments:

Discount London Theatre Tickets said...

Interesting read about the movie,Tin Cup is a marginally enjoyable film.It could have been a lot better with more effort.

Romeo said...

The Real "Tin Cup" True Story:
It is based on events that happened with Kurt DeVarona (ex pro golfer and golf instructor), brother of Gold medalist swimmer Donna DeVarona and brother of Joanna Kerns of ''Growing Pains". Kurt was seeing this married woman that used to pull up in her convertible Jaguar to our golf range where I worked with Kurt in Los Gatos, Ca. He did give her lessons yes, and more. Long story short, I ran into Kurt on a putting green at DeLaveaga in Santa Cruz in 2009. It had been 23 years since I had seen him last, so of course we were catching up and one of the stories he told me was this one. The woman he was seeing was married to some doctor who was friends with Don Johnson, they liked to race cigarette boats together or something to that effect. Anyways when this guy told Don about his wife's affair with some washed up golf pro Don took it to a producer and the rest is history.
I read Kurt passed away in April 2012