The Mulligan

[L to R] Tom Lehman in his big screen debut ; Pat Boone and Eric Close between scenes (Image: Calvin Aurand); Wally Armstrong makes a cameo (Image: Logan Fincher); Jim Nantz on camera (Image: Calvin Aurand)

Explosions, fight scenes, heated locker room arguments and high-octane car chases… are not typically part of golf movies. Rather than leaning on any number of devices common to cinema, films about golf are challenged to engage audiences by making sense of a game that, in many ways, doesn’t make much sense. One might argue the intrinsic qualities of any game, and yet there are plenty of movies featuring baseball and other team sports. In golf, however, the drama is less physical, more cerebral, and inherently solitary, and so golf movies are faced with exploring the subtle but often profound experience of the game beyond the simple ball-into-hole result—no small feat. A new film, The Mulligan, based upon a book of the same name, is giving it a go, and a few of the key players involved graciously offered their time to Kingdom to explain how and why they teed up this project. Lights, camera aaaand… Action! “It is very important to me that we represent the game in the proper way. If a character is supposed to have a bad swing, then fine, we can go for that; but I want to make sure that the golf is authentic and that the guys who are supposed to be able to play really can play.”

And with one of his first comments, Rick Elridge hits upon one of the more visible challenges of making a good golf movie: the actors’ swings. Elridge produced The Mulligan, a new golf film set to be released in April of 2022, and met the challenges head-on. Some actors who portray golfers have never swung a club but need to look like seasoned pros on the big screen. This can involve arduous training sessions (Matt Damon spent eight hours a day working on his swing for The Legend of Bagger Vance, cracking a rib in the process) and can still yield questionable results. Elridge had what seems like an obvious solution:

“When we needed a golf pro in the movie, who plays a critical role in the initial stages of the film, we decided to get a real pro,” he says, explaining that they hired Tom Lehman to portray a golfer. Which, of course, he is.

“During filming there was more for me to do in the movie than I had expected, to be honest,” Lehman explains. “I didn’t realize I would be speaking so much, but the whole cast and director were incredibly helpful, and there was a really great spirit around the set, too… I did feel nervous at first, having to speak my lines in front of professional actors and crew—the people who do this full-time—but I think it really helped being someone who is used to performing in front of people, albeit in a different way for me usually.”

Lehman is friends with Wally Armstrong, the former PGA TOUR pro who, with Ken Blanchard, wrote The Mulligan. The story is described as “a parable of second chances” and involves a businessman who sees his life falling apart, only to find a path to a personal “do over” via golf and a mysterious character known as “The Old Pro.” Seeing the book, which he originally wrote in 2006, come to life as a movie has been an amazing experience, Armstrong says.

“It has been beyond my wildest expectations, to see a book that I created in my mind be lived out on the screen,” the author explains. “I was up there watching them film it and a few times I was in tears, when I saw particular elements on the screen, that might help people experience the opportunity of a second chance in their own lives, as I have had and everyone has.

“One of the reasons I wrote the book was to give people hope, that no matter where they are or however old they are, there is always an opportunity to start over and get a second chance. That is the essence of the book. It is a book of hope and forgiveness—and that is what a mulligan is—it is a real metaphor for a second chance.”

As Armstrong explains, the book itself had two mulligans in that it went out of print, then came back into print, then went out of print again and then was rediscovered and presented as a movie project. Chris Byrd was the self-described catalyst for making that happen. The entrepreneur, who among other successes had quite a hand in bringing the Arnold Palmer Half & Half beverage to market with AriZona Beverages (look for the drink’s cameo in the film), gave a copy of Armstrong’s book to a friend who worked in television, and from there it found its way to Elridge, and then to the screen. Byrd also managed to sneak into the film as an extra—though not as sneakily as the director might have liked!

“There is a scene when I am in the background with Wally… while the two main characters are sitting by the green talking,” Byrd explains. “I was supposed to make this 20-foot putt while they are talking, so I made the putt and Wally jumped and yelled, and then we heard ‘Cut! Cut! Wally you can’t say anything! The actors are talking!’ We had to run that scene about 10 more times before I made the putt again.”

In the film, The Old Pro works with the Payne Stewart Kids organization—a real-life program that Armstrong helped to assemble.

“I played on tour with Payne quite a bit and we knew each other fairly well,” Armstrong says. “Payne became very strong in his own personal faith and he really wanted to make a difference to kids’ lives, not only in getting them into golf but impacting their lives with God’s love, and to give them hope at an early age. I have helped to create Payne Stewart Kids Golf program, and the whole idea is to introduce kids to golf at an early age—aged four to nine, which is an age that has not really been addressed—and we work with churches, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and YMCA, so we have a huge opportunity to introduce more kids to golf and channel them into other local golf programs as they get a little older.”

The Mulligan stars Eric Close and Pat Boone (and Tom Lehman) and is set for an April, 2022 release, with initial distribution slated at 1,200 brick-and-mortar theaters, to be followed by availability via online streaming. Visit themulliganmovie.com to learn more.

Tommy’s Honour 2016: Jason Connery ably directs the dramatic story of the Toms Morris, doing well to avoid ye olde clichés and offering what, to our minds, is one of the best golf films ever.

From The Rough 2011: Perhaps too light of a touch was brought to the incredible story of Catana Sparks, the first woman ever to coach a college men’s golf team, but it’s a worthwhile couple of hours regardless.

Three Little Beers 1935: Before Happy Gilmore, there were the Three Stooges as beer delivery drivers looking to cash-in by winning their brewery’s golf tournament—despite not knowing how to golf. Zany hijinks ensue, of course, good for a chuckle.

Chris Byrd on set (in Wally Armstrong’s chair)