When it comes to legendary sports moments in movies, you’d be rivaled to find one more famously imitated than the Happy Gilmore golf swing. The swing—originally made famous by Adam Sandler’s character, Happy Gilmore—goes against all golf fundamentals and techniques, which is part of its appeal. Chances are good that you’ve not only seen someone trying to replicate the swing on a course or at a range, but you’ve likely tried to mimic it yourself.
That swing, along with countless quotable lines from the original 1996 movie, like “Just tap it in. Give it a little tappy, tap, tap, taparoo”; “Why don’t you just go home? That’s your home! Are you too good for your home?”; “It’s all in the hips”; “Somebody’s closer”; and “Happy learned how to putt…uh oh!”—all of which are incredibly relatable for anyone who plays golf—are among the many reasons why Happy Gilmore has become such an iconic movie. The film features ex-hockey player, Happy Gilmore, who, despite being basically the antithesis of a golfer, discovers he’s quite good at the sport. When Happy finds out his grandmother is losing her home, to get enough money to buy it back for her, Happy enters a golf tournament, and the chaos that ensues is comedic beauty.
That’s why, when it was announced in May 2024 that Netflix would be releasing Happy Gilmore 2 in 2025, the news was big! Golf and comedy fans alike were excited to see this story come to life for a second time. And as more information came out about the movie, it was revealed that the sequel would feature a handful of current professional golfers, including Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Jordan Speith, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa and many, many more.
“It’s pretty surreal,” says Morikawa. “To be a part of this second movie is something that I never would have thought about, and it’s, you know— what an honor! Twenty years down the road, you’re going to be able to tell the kids you have a cool part of this iconic thing.” We have news for you, Collin— if the prequel achieves the same level of fame as the first film, it’s likely that you won’t even have to explain to your kids—they’ll already know!
Filming the movie: Happy Gilmore 2
The plot of the second movie: life after Happy won the tour championship. Plauged by heartache and tough times, Happy tries to come out of retirement to help provide for his family.
While the movie was shot at a handful of set locations, the golf scenes were filmed at Montclair Golf Club in West Orange, New Jersey. Thanks to the tax break and friendly administration at the club, it was chosen to be the featured course. “That plus the beauty of this course, which makes it look like a real pro tournament,” explains Jack Giarraputo, producer of Happy Gilmore 2. Montclair GC has hosted several high-level tournaments so it’s also a venue that had the layout to accommodate what the movie needed.
U.S. Bank also partnered with the production and Netflix, and is the main tournament sponsor in the movie. “Gilmore’s motivation in both movies is a secure financial future, right?”, says Giarraputo. “And he does it in a fun way, so the humor can make the bank feel more accessible while also helping people have a secure financial future.” U.S. Bank also happens to be one of Morikawa’s personal sponsors. “One of my biggest sponsors being in the movie—it’s amazing when things organically tie together like that,” says Morikawa.
Cameos galore
If you saw trailers or any sneak peaks at Happy Gilmore 2, you may have noticed some familiar faces from the first film—Julie Bowen as Virginia Venit, Christopher McDonald as Shooter McGavin, and Ben Stiller as Hal (just to name a few). But take it from us—there are even more cameos in the sequel than you can imagine. “It’s a producing challenge to organize it,” says Giarraputo. “Scheduling based on their free time and when we need them, and also making it efficient so they’re not waiting around all day—that’s a hard part of movie making. We did a pretty good job on that because we’ve been doing it for a while now, but this was an unprecedented number of cameos.” You can say that again! (Some might argue too many for one film?)
Even Morikawa, who shot scenes with many of the pro golfers and other athletes and celebrities, was shocked by the amount of known names in Happy Gilmore 2. “When I watched the movie yesterday, I didn’t realize there were that many celebrities in it. And I think all the cameos are amazing, so I just wish I got to meet more. Post Malone is like my number one guy—I would love to meet that guy.”
Posty aside, Morikawa found the star of the movie to be the most significant encounter he had on set. “I think that one of the coolest parts was having Adam just be who he was,” he says. “Like you see all these people, you see all these actors and it’s the same as our world—you see us only on TV. So when you actually get to meet people for who they are and you get to see their true selves, Adam is honestly one of the best people I’ve gotten to meet in my life.”
Downtime on set
With so many actors, athletes, and other prominent figures on set for different scenes, some downtime amongst them was unavoidable between takes.
“It was interesting because we had some of the LIV and PGA guys there at the same time sitting around, and it was great to just watch everyone talk about golf and not the headlines that you read, about the controversies,” recalls producer Giarraputo. It felt good and almost healing that they were all talking to each other.” For many involved, those chats and said downtime turned into a bonding experience.
“You know we hung out a lot in Jack G’s trailer,” said Morikawa. (A very infamous trailer that we actually obtained an invite to go and check in Austin, Texas.) “Even though it’s a lot of golfers, you got to hang out with these guys in the fall, when our season was over, which is the most relaxing time for us. So we’re just kind of hanging out, talking, telling stories, and it’s something that you don’t really get to do on a regular basis. So making memories like that, and obviously talking with Adam Sandler and you know Travis Kelce was on set, Benito, Bad Bunny—it’s like these are worlds that you don’t expect to collide.”
A movie for [all] the ages
Staying true to its roots, Happy Gilmore 2 is packed with golf related humor and frustration for the game, but it’s entertaining for golfers and non-golfers alike. And it’s perfect for all ages. The comedy has a pro-family feel, featuring themes like friends pulling for each other, and sacrifices made for family and love.
“Netflix reaches such a broad audience, so you’re going to have very young kids who kind of know what the original Happy Gilmore is, but they’re going to be able to watch Happy Gilmore 2, and be like oh, maybe I should go watch the original,” says Morikawa. “And then you’re going to have people that watched Happy Gilmore 30 years ago and it’s going to bridge this entire gap.”
Plus, there’s also some thrilling competition and rivalry that pays homage to the present day state of golf by toying with current league controversies. You get everything from a traditional golf competition (Happy Gilmore style though, of course), to simulator-esque, arcade-like challenges with themed teams (think TGL).
The popularity of the game can’t be denied
The rise of interest in golf can’t be denied at this point. According to the National Golf Foundation, a total of 47.2 million Americans played golf in one form or another in 2024, which is a five percent increase from 2023, and a 19 percent increase since 2019. And Netflix launching the golf-centric Happy Gilmore 2, that debuted with 46.7 million views in just three days, making it the biggest opening for a Netflix film ever, emphasizes this popularity even more.
“It’s definitely growing,” says Morikawa. “When you’re having a lot younger audience come out and watch us during tournaments, or you might get recognized from a young kid because you were on a YouTube video, you do feel that sense. And to be able to impact a kid, just to make them smile, hopefully they enjoy that and make a memory,” he says. “Even though we’re athletes, at the same time, we’re entertainers. And yes, our sport is maybe more tame or less aggressive in nature than other sports, it is still to entertain. So when you’re able to make memories for kids, whether it’s through a movie, through an ad, through a U.S. Bank commercial, through a tournament, through YouTube, through social media, when you make a memory for a kid, that lasts a lifetime.”
Where does golf go from here?
Happy Gilmore 2 hits on the very controversial and prominent topic of traditional versus non-traditional golf, and what the future of the game will be as popularity continues to rise. From the decades old PGA Tour, to the newly created LIV Golf League, to the team-focused TGL, to YouTube golfers and the Creator Classic, to golf brand ambassadors and influencers, to social media golf accounts with endlessly shared memes, what’s next? And how do current professional players in the sport feel about the different forms of growth and what that means for the future?
“I kind of live in the middle ground of that,” says Morikawa. “I’m not very one-sided on ‘it needs to be very traditional.’ I think there are aspects of golf that are traditional. We respect the history of golf—we respect the Hall of Famers, how it’s come to be, going and playing The Open Championship, the home of golf, the majors—all that type of stuff we respect. But it doesn’t mean you can’t bring a little style, flair and fun. You see how much YouTube golf and social media golf has been brought up. That’s a whole aspect that I think a lot of kids are now finding. All my friends, when we were in college, they all wanted to pick up golf and now these kids in high school like golf, and that’s something you can go do for an hour, two hours a day. And that, I think, is what golf is, and what people are realizing golf can be.”
Whether you’re already playing golf, becoming more interested in the sport, or you’re just a fan of well made comedies, we recommend checking out Happy Gilmore 2, streaming on Netflix now.
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