What's your favorite golf movie? Chances are Caddyshack will get a lot of (if not most of) the votes out there. Happy Gilmore would as well. Happy Gilmore 2? Well, it wasn't as bad as Caddyshack 2, we can at least agree on that. What about Tin Cup? The Kevin Costner-Rene Russo romcom, released 30 years ago Sunday, is going to be right up there.
Let's take a look at the best golf movies ever made, but not based on any Golfweek opinions. For this list, we're using IMDB rankings. (Rotten Tomatoes also has a best golf movies list, if you're interested). 5. The Greatest Game Every Played
Director Bill Paxton brought amateur golfer Francis Ouimet's story to the big screen in "The Greatest Game Ever Played," released in theaters on Sept. 30, 2005. Ouimet – played by Shia LaBeouf – famously won the 1913 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline at age 20. 4. Tin Cup
A Kevin Costner masterpiece. Directed by Ron Shelton, this 1996 film was the No. 1 movie in theaters in its first week of release. With a budget of about $45 million, it grossed $54 million in the U.S. and about $76 million worldwide, which makes it the highest-earning golf movie ever made. "Caddyshack" is No. 2 at about $40 million. 3. Caddyshack
Caddyshack is perhaps the cult classic to end all cult classics (with full deference to Rocky Horror Picture Show). The film, released in theaters on July 25, 1980, grew to legendary status in large part because it produced some of the most-quoted movie lines ever. Harold Ramis made his directorial debut with the film, which was reportedly made for $6 million. It went on to gross $40 million at the box office. 2. The Legend of Bagger Vance
A much more serious movie than the others, "The Legend of Bagger Vance" features three big-time Hollywood actors ― Matt Damon, Charlize Theron and Will Smith. Directed by Robert Redford and released on Nov. 3, 2000, the movie got 3½ out of 4 stars from legendary movie critic Roger Ebert, who wrote:
Robert Redford's "The Legend of Bagger Vance" could be a movie about prayer, music or mathematics because it is really about finding yourself at peace with the thing you do best. Most of the movie is about an epic golf tournament, but it is not a sports movie in any conventional sense. It is the first zen movie about golf.
Made for $80 million, its box office gross came in at just less than $40 million. 1. Happy Gilmore
The lines are legendary. The premise is ridiculous. You've probably even attempted the swing when nobody was looking on the driving range. Feb. 16, 1996, marked the theatrical release of "Happy Gilmore," the Adam Sandler movie about a failed hockey player who takes his talents to the golf course in order to save his grandmother's house. The comedy has undeniably become a part of golf's culture. This article originally appeared on Golfweek: 'Tin Cup', 'Caddyshack' rank among top 5 golf movies of all time