Caddyshack's 30th anniversary: Celebrating golf's funniest film

text size

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Bill Murray's duel with the gophers at Bushwood is just one of the many enduring things about Caddyshack.

On July 25, 1980, the movie "Caddyshack" -- starring comedic geniuses Bill Murray, Chevy Chase and Rodney Dangerfield -- opened in theaters across the United States. Critical reviews were mixed -- the New York Times called it a "pleasantly loose-limbed sort of movie" but Roger Ebert at the Chicago Sun-Times said the movie "never finds a consistent comic note of its own."

RANKING THE CHARACTERS: Who are the movie's five biggest heroes? Five baddest villains? Five favorite bit characters? Click here UNDERRATED QUOTES: You've heard the obvious quotes from the movie. Here are some that are just as good. Click here THE REAL BUSHWOOD: The movie was filmed at a course in Florida. Here's the reason why. Click here READERS REACT: We've gathered some of our reader comments about the movie. Click here | Video BUY THE DVD: In case you don't already have a copy. Click here

Still, it was favorably received at the box office, grossing $3.1 million that first weekend and nearly $40 million for the year, placing it in the top 15 highest-grossing movies in 1980 (but far behind the leader, Star Wars' "The Empire Strikes Back," at $290 million).

Since then, of course, the movie -- which celebrated its 30th anniversary on Sunday -- has become a cult favorite, especially among golfers who have viewed it dozens of times and can seemingly recite every line by memory.

The world's top player, Tiger Woods, is one of those players. In fact, he said he has seen the movie "pretty close to a hundred" times and, of course, made a commercial several years ago in which he portrayed the character Carl Spackler, played in the movie by Bill Murray.

Chris DiMarco is another pro who loves the movie, along with another Murray classic, "Stripes."

"You put me on a desert island with those two," DiMarco said, "and I'd be good."

References to the movie seem endless. Former teenage sensation Ty Tryon is nicknamed after Ty Webb, the zen golfer in the movie played by Chevy Chase. Tryon's actual name is William Augustus Tryon IV.

Murray, along with his brothers, own a restaurant near the World Golf Hall of Fame. Naturally, the restaurant's name is Caddyshack. Murray's book about his life, and golf in particular, is called "Cinderella Story" -- one of Murray's lines in the movie.

On more than one occasion, members of the gallery have been known to yell out a "Caddyshack" reference during a PGA TOUR event. The fans attending TPC Scottsdale, home of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, seem particularly smitten by the movie.

When DiMarco was standing over a putt at the raucous 16th hole in 2002, a fan recreated a scene in the movie by yelling out, "Noonan." DiMarco made the putt anyway and went on to victory.

Scott Verplank also heard the "Noonan" distractions at 16. "There are probably not many movies where you have people recite lines from it at the Phoenix Open -- where there are 15,000 people around the green -- and someone is yelling 'Noonan' and everybody there knows what it means," Verplank told the Tulsa World. "Any movie that has people talking about it 30 years later is obviously a hell of a movie."

Indeed. TOUR pro Joe Durant told the New York Daily News that he travels with a "Caddyshack" DVD and watches it when he's feeling down. "It's a great pick-me-up," Durant said.

Stuart Appleby told the Daily News that "Caddyshack" is simply "the greatest film of the 20th century."

Fans of "Gone With The Wind" might argue otherwise, but the point is this: Golfers love "Caddyshack." Now 30 years old, its popularity does not seem to be fading.

"Caddyshack," Murray once said, "was a great thing."

If you don't think so, just ask any golfer.