NEWS

These are the most convincing movie golfers in Hollywood

By Andy Wittry | PGA.com
Published on
These are the most convincing movie golfers in Hollywood

Imagine putting together a hypothetical dream foursome for a round of golf where the golfers had to be people who acted in a golf movie. We went through some of our favorite golf films, analyzed their swings and picked out the actors who looked like naturals with a club in their hands.

Here are the most convincing movie golfers from Hollywood.

Kevin Costner as Roy McAvoy in Tin Cup

From working at the driving range to qualifying for the U.S. Open. That's the goal of Roy McAvoy, played by Kevin Costner in Tin Cup (1996), as the former golf pro tries win over Dr. Molly Griswold (Rene Russo).

"What is the golf swing by Roy McAvoy?" Costner says rhetorically as he teaches Griswold how to swing like him. "I tend to think of the golf swing as a poem. The critical opening phrase of this poem will always be the grip, which the hands unite to form a single unit by the simple overlap of the little finger."

After shanking a few balls at the driving range in the scene below, McAvoy smokes a ball with an iron. While his backswing might be a bit short, his swing looks fluid and he doesn't appear rushed.

Costner may not be good enough to make the U.S. Open in real life but he looks like he could put together a solid round.

Ted Knight as Judge Elihu Smails in Caddyshack

The oft-terrorized Judge Elihu Smails, played by Ted Knight in Caddyshack, has a strong-looking golf swing going for him, if nothing else.

In the scene above, Al Czervik (Rodney Dangerfield) hits an off-balanced, somewhat rushed drive off the tee that has power and accuracy – a little too much accuracy. Meanwhile, Smails hits what appears to be a beautiful iron shot – check out that stance, weight distribution and follow-through – from the fairway on the same hole, just moments before Czervik's drive hits him.

Christopher McDonald as Shooter McGavin in Happy Gilmore

Happy Gilmore (Adam Sandler) has a nemesis, Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald), in Happy Gilmore and it turns out his foe actually has a pretty good golf swing. Watch him sink a 20-foot putt on a horribly bumpy green in the video above. Of course the ultra-confident McGavin would tell you that scene was filmed on the first try but you wonder how many tries McDonald would tell you that it took.

While the shot below is off-target in the movie, the swing itself actually looks respectable. McDonald takes a clean cut, twists his back foot and follows through as he opens up his body as he completes the swing.

Bill Murray as Carl Spackler in Caddyshack

Is Carl Spackler the greatest character in a golf movie ever? We can settle that debate another time. Nothing that Spackler (Bill Murray) does in the movie is serious but we're serious when we say that his golf swing isn't bad.

Sure, the backswing is a bit out of control and it resembles a baseball swing at a one point, but from the top of the club's arc to the follow-through, we see potential in Murray's golf game. Of course, he's holding a gardening tool instead of a golf club and hitting flowers, not a golf ball, but he has a good swing speed and makes solid contact.

If you don't buy our analysis then we'll leave you with this: Murray has had a handicap as low as 7.2, according to Golf Digest.