Happy Gilmore‘s depiction of professional golf angered a real-life golfer so much that he forced them to change the ending. One of Adam Sandler’s best movies, Happy Gilmore sees the тιтular short-tempered wannabe hockey player use his aggression to become an unlikely star in the world of professional golf.
The juxtaposition between the usually calm and dignified sport with the chaotic Happy makes for one of the best sports comedy movies of all time. With the upcoming Happy Gilmore 2 seeing Sandler return to his iconic role, there is plenty of renewed interest in the classic comedy, as fans eagerly revisit all the big laughs.
However, not everyone was happy about the comedy in the beginning. While there have been other golf comedies, like the beloved Caddyshack, that poked fun at the sport, Happy Gilmore decided to make one key change to its ending so as not to upset some of the golf purists in the audience.
Happy Gilmore Changed The Championship Green Jackets To Gold Jackets After A Real Golf Pro Complained
Happy Gilmore Went With A Fictional Golf Championship To Avoid Insulting Real Golfers
Happy Gilmore features many elements from the real-life professional golf world. Alongside the likes of Ben Stiller and Bob Barker, some of the most notable cameos in Happy Gilmore are real golfers. To add to the authenticity of the movie, Happy Gilmore also recruited Mark Lye, a former PGA pro, as a script consultant.
Lye suggested the entire final event should be fictionalized.
Lye was meant to ensure that the movie captured the nature of the sport in a pᴀssable way for comedy. However, Lye was so shocked by the inaccuracies of the movie and the way he felt it was making a mockery of real events that he convinced them to separate the movie from the real golf world.
The original script saw Happy competing in the legendary Augusta National in the climax of the movie and beating rival Shooter McGavin to win the coveted Green Jacket awarded to Masters champions. However, Lye suggested the entire final event should be fictionalized (via PGATour.com):
They had the green jacket. They were desecrating the USGA. Making fun of Augusta National. I just said, “No, no, no. I don’t think you better go there at all. We can get the same effect by doing our own ficтιтious event.”
While it is easy to dismiss such concerns as overreacting to a silly comedy, one can also see Lye’s point. Happy Gilmore stretches the boundaries of reality in how it depicts professional golf. Unlike Brad Pitt’s new sports movie F1, the realism of the sport isn’t completely necessary.
Happy Gilmore doesn’t lose any laughs because the ending is a fictional championship, nor does it change the crowd-pleasing conclusion of Happy’s journey. However, it might have made it easier for die-hard golf fans to embrace the movie as it is not so reckless with the sport they love.
Happy Gilmore’s Depiction Of Professional Golf Finds A Balance Between Reverence & Satire
Happy Gilmore Has Remained Beloved In The Golf World
Despite Lye’s concerns, Happy Gilmore manages to be a hilarious comedy about golf while also holding onto a lot of reverence for the sport. There is certainly some absurdity to Happy finding his golf talent by accident and achieving the kind of success real golf professionals work their entire lives for.
Though his playing is still unorthodox, he reins in his behavior and leans into the mature vibe of the sport.
Likewise, the movie also has a lot of fun playing into the reputation of golf as a somewhat “upтιԍнт” sport. Happy is shown to be an immature and short-tempered manchild, but he is also loved by golf fans for injecting some fun into the sport, with the suggestion that his style was sorely missing from the culture.
As much as these elements might make professional golf the ʙuтт of the joke, Happy gradually does come to respect the sport more. Though his playing is still unorthodox, he reins in his behavior and leans into the mature vibe of the sport. It will be interesting to see how much Happy returns to his old ways in the sequel.
The professional golfers in Happy Gilmore are also treated with dignity. While Shooter McGavin is the arrogant and dishonest villain, various moments show that he isn’t well-loved among his fellow golfers, such as Lee Trevino correcting him: “Grizzly Adams did have a beard.” While not the most realistic of golf movies, it pays enough respect to make it a fun time for those who love golf.
