An absorbing, 36-hole challenge match between golfing legends Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen, is interrupted by the arrival of troubled war hero Rannulph Junah, whose caddie possesses the secret of the authentic swing. Even from that briefest of outlines, one can understand the enthusiasm of Robert Redford, film-maker.
But the really interesting part is that the production company are currently searching for a suitable location in this country. And their preference is for a links course which could accommodate a two-month, summer shoot.
We are talking about Steven Pressfield's widely acclaimed book, The Legend of Bagger Vance, which is to be turned into a movie. Hollywood is apparently quite well disposed towards golf, after the success of Tin Cup, in which Kevin Costner, as the eponymous hero, squandered the chance of winning the US Open.
The match between Jones and Hagen takes place in Savannah in 1931, a year after the game's greatest amateur completed the so-called "Impregnable Quadrilateral". The book also features Grantland Rice, the leading US golf-writer of that period, along with Jones's biographer, O B Keeler. Bagger Vance is the mysterious, fictitious caddie.
The project is still at the development stage,
but there is talk of Redford taking an acting role as well as directing, as he
did in the recent The Horse Whisperer. One suspects the role he could have in mind would be that of Junah, the war hero.
In the event, the GUI have been contacted on the matter of a suitable Irish location. I understand that certain members of the production team were attracted to this country because of their experience of playing golf here.
For the record, Jones and Hagen had some memorable clashes during the 1920s. Indeed, when they were paired together in the first round of the 1925 US Open at Worcester CC, Jones sportingly called a penalty on himself at the 11th, where his ball moved after his club had grazed the rough.
But there is no record of a major challenge match, such as Pressfield describes. Which is all the more reason to look forward to its staging - in an Irish setting.
"It wears me out to shower and shave, but my wife told me one thing I'm going to do is dance at my son Michael's wedding (on February 20th). Other than that, I'm going to do nothing for six weeks."
- Jack Nicklaus, who had a hip implant on January 27th.
The report in the Montreal newspaper carried the intriguing headline: "Ruddy transformera la bloody dump de l'Est en un golf de type `links' ". What on earth could the commander-in-chief of the European Club be inflicting on hapless Canadians?
Enlightenment came from other, English-language newspaper cuttings: the bould Pat is to design two important golf courses in the suburbs of Montreal. Apparently the project is to honour a promise made more than 25 years ago when the Montreal Municipal Course, where the Canadian Open has been played, was ploughed under to make room for the 1976 Olympic Stadium.
The complex is to be known as Montreal Island GC, and the courses, both measuring in excess of 7,000 yards, will be connected by a new tunnel under Highway 40. "They will have many links-like characteristics," said Ruddy. "The terrain will be left exposed and windblown, while the rough will consist of tall fescue grasses."
Landing this contract is quite a significant feather in Ruddy's cap, given that such prominent US designers as Jack Nicklaus and Pete Dye were among those considered.
Celebrities, we are told, were as plentiful as salesman at the PGA's annual merchandising show in Orlando last weekend. But what I found particularly interesting was the manner in which the star players handled themselves. Certain European counterparts could certainly learn from Mark O'Meara, holder of the US Masters and British Open titles.
Flanked by both of those trophies at the Taylor-Made stand, we are informed that he was signing autographs when a fan called a friend on a cell phone. Just as it was the fan's turn for an autograph, O'Meara happily took the phone and said hello to the delighted party on the other end. An example of sound Irish breeding coming to the fore, no doubt.
Michael Jordan has not renewed last year's partnership with Tiger Woods in the National Pro-Am, currently in progress at Pebble Beach. Instead, he is having surgery on a finger tendon which was severed by a cigar cutter during the Christmas holiday. But it won't be long before he is indulging his passion for golf once more, now that he appears to have finally quit basketball.
Jordan was introduced to the game as a student at the University of North Carolina, where Davis Love gave him his first set of clubs. Now playing off four, his reported long-term target is to become sufficiently proficient to be a candidate for the US Seniors' Tour, 14 years hence. In the meantime, he hopes to be a scratchman by the end of this year.
NBC television commentator Mark Rolfing, who is a former tournament professional, describes Jordan as "the most passionate golfer I've ever met, pro or amateur". He added: "Michael will play 36 holes a day, minimum, 54 if he can. "He likes a big game if he can get it and always carries a wad of money to the golf course."
Though Rolfing claims that reports of Jordan's gambling are exaggerated, some hair-raising stories are still doing the rounds. Like in the early 1990s, when he ran up golf gambling debts of more than $100,000. And how he wrote a cheque for $57,000 to a man who was indicted on drugs and money-laundering charges and was forced to testify at the trial.
Rolfing's assessment of his game? "At 6 ft 3 in, he's got a huge swing arc which gives him the length to hit it out there with anybody, but he's got to keep it in play," he said.
Most golfers would kill for the chance of a fourball with such all-time greats as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson. But not movie madcap Leslie Nielsen, the self-confessed "Bobby Jones of Bad Golf".
"They all take the game very seriously and have a pretty uncompromising attitude when it comes to rules," he says. "So, getting right down to it, if I had an opportunity to play with a trio of really outstanding individuals, but still wanted to have some fun and stand a chance of turning in a decent scorecard, I'd pick George Shearing, Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder."
This day in golf history
On February 6th, 1870, James Braid was born in Earlsferry, Fife, the son of a ploughman. Though he left school at 13 to serve his time as a joiner in a nearby village, he had already received a very sound grounding in English, judging by his correspondence with Mullingar GC, where he designed the present course in 1935.
As a member of the so-called Great Triumvirate with Harry Vardon and J H Taylor, Braid was the first player to win five British Opens and also won the inaugural British PGA Matchplay title in 1903. A year later, he became club professional at Walton Heath where he remained until his death in November 1950.
Modern golf course architects might note the closing paragraph of a letter he wrote to Mullingar in December 1937: "I was rather grieved to see the whins and heather had been taken away at the ninth hole and sincerely hope you will not be too free in cutting away further bushes."
Teaser: During the last round of the Phoenix Open last Sunday, Tiger Woods sought the help of a group of spectators to have a large rock removed from close to his ball. As is their way, American TV pundits made a major fuss of the matter, despite the fact that a member of their commentary team, Peter Oosterhuis, explained the decision is some detail. Decision 23 1/2 (Decisions on the Rules of Golf) posed the question: A player's ball lies in the rough directly behind a loose stone the size of a watermelon. The stone can be removed only with some effort. Is it a loose impediment which may be removed?
Answer: Yes. Stones of any size (not solidly embedded) are loose impediments and may be removed, provided removal does not unduly delay play (Rule 6-7). Decision 23-1/3 then points out that spectators, caddies, fellow competitors, etc., may assist a player in removing a large impediment. Mind you, at Phoenix, Woods left the donkey work entirely up to the willing spectators.
Note: For the first time, Irish clubs are invited this year to enter the Rules of Golf Inter-Club Quiz which is supported by the R and A. Now in its fifth year, the popular quiz attracts over 500 entries and the holders are Braehead GC near Alloa in Scotland. Information from: Helen Latham, 8 Wetstone Lane, West Kirby, Merseyside L48 7HQ. Tel - (0044151) 625 9994; fax - (0044151) 625 9972.
