Tommy's Honour - A Golf Movie to Savor

Like many of you, I read Tommy's Honour by Kevin Cook many years ago. It tells the tale of the legendary father and son Morris duo, Old Tom and Young Tom. They were pioneers of the game of golf in the 1860s and 1870s and between them won when an extraordinary eight Open Championships.

The movie of the book is due out next month and, as we all know, many so called authentic golf movies prove to be anything but, with awful golf swings, inappropriate golf dialogue and cringe making historical context. Tommy's Honour is different. It pulls off the golf elements in style and the story moves forward with pace. I hope it is a huge success for the game of golf and also for my friend, Keith Bank who had the vision to bring the book to the screen.

I had the chance to sit down with Keith at the recent PGA Merchandise Show. I asked him about the process and he patiently explained that it is threefold - time consuming, costly and the chances of success are slim. Well, that sounds like most things that are really worth doing. And Keith along with great support managed to pull it off. He's been in the movie business before, 28 years ago, and swore he would never do it again, but this wonderful story proved too much for the enthusiastic golfer to resist. He spent more than three years raising the money and then set about putting together the dream team to bring the story to life. The director is Jason Connery (Sean Connery's son) and the lead actors include one of my personal favorites, Sam Neill. The attention to detail, so sadly lacking in most golf movies is evident here. Keith's team even built a couple of rugged looking golf holes to accentuate the authenticity and had the actors work with bona fide golf teachers to keep the golf swings looking real. The extreme effort and long, long hours have paid off! If you are a golfer and have an interest in the great history of the game, you owe it to yourself to know Old and Young Tom's story. I would also say that non-golfers will enjoy the drama, the love story and the story telling of this magnificent period piece.

Keith Bank

Prior to the WGC Dell Matchplay on March 25th, NBC is airing a 30-minute segment about Tommy's Honour. Included within the segment is a piece featuring Jordan Spieth and his father dressed in full 19th century clothing playing with hickories - sounds like more fun than the WGC! The Golf Channel will also be screening the piece, so look out for that. In the meanwhile, here's the preview.

 

The movie premieres on March 27th in three cities with the benefits going to The First Tee. The movie then opens in 32 cities across 137 screens. Tommy's Honour comes out on general release in the US on April 14th. The official website is here.

A Wonderful New Golf Book - Love Letters to the Home of Golf

Who doesn't love St Andrews? Well, if you are a golfer and you don't love it, either you haven't been there or you haven't been there enough! It is without doubt the greatest golf town in the world.

I was fortunate to attend University in Glasgow and as a member of the golf team we played many matches at truly great courses, including, naturally, The Old Course. I have great memories of those days and also in more recent times; walking around the town, staying in the Dunvegan and The Old Course Hotels, popping into the Jigger Inn, recreating Chariots of Fire on the beach and much more!

Thistle by Michael Klein

A fine young man, Josh Evenson, a North Dakota native, who attended the University of St Andrews, has gone many steps further than simply blogging about the Auld Grey Toon! Josh, along with an A list of the world's greatest artists, golfers and writers has created an extraordinary volume about the town, fetchingly entitled Links to St Andrews - Love Letters to the Home of Golf. He puts it best in his personal description of the book,

"Links to St Andrews is about links of many kinds in the world of golf and in life: links between fathers and sons, between coaches and athletes, between the past and the present, between an undulating expanse of grass and the swing of a club, between a town and those who fall under its spell."

Josh Evenson

Josh has travelled the world compiling this mighty tome with contributions from Messrs. Nicklaus, Palmer and Player, Annika, Greg, Tom - you know, all those for whom only one name is sufficient. And it doesn't stop there; the artwork is extraordinary, as is the art direction. The stories are compelling and tell so many aspects of the centuries old town, most of which I was unaware of. So, if like me, you love St Andrews, buy yourself a present and for less than half the price of a driver (which I almost guarantee won't be in your bag in a year) you can own one of the truly great golf books produced in my memory.

There are several editions of the book including a very special edition that includes the signatures of the 100 contributors, signed on hand made paper pressed from the grasses of St Andrews (I kid you not!). Good luck getting one of those! There is another limited edition tier coming at $295 signed by the writers and artists and includes a leather slip case. Available online right now is the "standard" edition, although there is absolutely nothing "standard" about this book. This version is $150 and likely to sell out fast. Although sans signatures it has everything you need to look at and read.

A sketch by Lee Wybranski

Josh undertook this venture with a passion and integrity rarely seen in Generation X and the result speaks for itself. This is a book you are going to want to own, read, study and read again. It's for sale on the Links to St Andrews website here.

The 144th Open Championship at The Old Course

It's The Open, The British, the British Open, the Open Championship - a major so good they named it four times. Call it what you will (and even as a Brit, I'm not hung up on the title), it's always very special when it is played in the Auld Grey Toon of St Andrews over The Old Course.

I was at University in Scotland (in Glasgow) and have played The Old Course many, many times in competitive and friendly matches. I even got it around in under par on one occasion. Ok, you don't really care about my score, but like all golfers I feel the need to tell you!

The real reason for this quick blog is to highlight my friend, Lee Wybranski's latest Official Poster for the Championship. Featuring a wonderful view down the 18th highlighted by The Swilcan Bridge, R & A Clubhouse and Hamilton Grand, it's a gorgeous addition to any golf collection. You can buy a signed copy here on his website.

The 140th Open Championship at Sandwich

The best in the world are back to Royal St. George's (or Sandwich) near Pegwell Bay in the south of England for the Open Championship or "The British" as it is often called in the US. The list of winners above shows several stand outs, notably in the modern era, Norman's final round 64 in 1993. The pre-war winners include a couple of the greatest ever including Hagen, Vardon and Cotton - check out those final round winning scores of 80 and 79 - I guess the British weather moved in!
TV coverage on ESPN starts at 4:30 am on Thursday and for those who haven't seen Sandwich you will see (IMHO) one of the weakest courses of the Open rota. Yes, the finish is tough, but there are only a few memorable holes. One of them, the 4th, for example, featuring 2 massive bunkers, one of which is named "Big Bertha". Against the wind it's a big carry from the back tee!
Hagan said it best,
"The first 9 holes were tremendous fun but not very good golf and the second 9 were tremendous golf but no fun at all"
As for the winner, I favor one of the Europeans on form, Westwood, Donald, McIIroy. I also like the Aussies including Jason Day who I watched for 36 holes at Congressional and watch for Justin Rose - he's coming into form and can play links golf!

The 150th Most Boring Open Championship

All credit to Louis Oosthuizen. Great swing, great play, great win. But, in the words of the legendary film director, Martin Scorsese, "Where's the drama, Who's the Protagonist, Who's the Antagonist?" I had high hopes of a great Open Championship, but just like the U.S. Open it didn't transpire. The weather blew away the field and Oosthuizen is no Dustin Johnson and there was scant chance of him folding. His fundamentals are solid and he looked at ease as he walked to the first tee. Even those who did switch on ABC in the morning in the US were unlikely to stay the course, especially after the 4 shot swing on 12. If the lack of drama wasn't enough those cheesy Scottish vignettes were enough to make the viewer reach for the remote and find a Baywatch re-run. When will the US networks stop making these cliche ridden pieces and simply focus on the golf. I know, never, but I still needed to say it. Well done Louis, the deserved Champion Golfer of the Year.

The best photo of The Open

This is priceless. The looks on these faces says it all. Harrington gets the joke, Woods standing behind Watson, the old Stanford Alum who positively despise one another, Trevino mad, Vicenzo looking bewildered, and Daly as always looking like a slob. The R & A must have been thrilled with this...not

Seve announces decision not to play at St. Andrews

As everyone knows, Seve has had a very tough time in the last couple of years with brain cancer. He has now announced his decision NOT to play at St. Andrews in the Wednesday special event prior to The Open Championship. This is under doctors orders and there is no question that it would be a stressful day for him. It sounds like a good decision to me, but the St. Andrews event will miss Seve and so will the British golf public, who LOVE Seve. I have been on the back of the range at hundreds of events and he was one of only a couple players who could stop the range dead with his ability to hit a golf ball. I couldn't resist showing Seve at the 1984 Open - one of the greatest and happiest moments in Open history. On his final putt, the ball seemed to be 6 inches outside the right edge with 3 inches to go and Seve literally willed the ball into the hole - his reaction stills ranks as one of the greatest ever.