A Day of Golf at the Bush Wood Country Club

I was getting ready for work this morning when all of the sudden my phone rang, It was my buddy Al Czervik on the line. He told me to drop everything; they needed an extra guy down at the Bush Wood Country Club for a round of golf. Al was blabbering on about some tournament against Judge Smails. How could I pass it up? I threw on a pair of plaid knickers and before I knew it Al was outside my place in his red Rolls Royce. I heard the horn honk so I grabbed my golf bag and ran out the door. As soon as I got in the car we blasted I’m Alright by Kenny Loggins and off we went.

We arrived at the club and got ready to tee up. I pulled a driver out of my bag, very excited to kick off a glorious day of golf…sadly I was abruptly woken up by my alarm clock, I was still in bed…it had all been a wonderful dream. I quietly sat on the edge of my mattress as a tear ran down my face.

Harold Ramis’s Directorial debut, Caddy Shack (1980) is classic and favorite among many. It was the first film Ramis Directed. He had already written sweet films like Animal House (1978) and Meatballs (1979) and would go on to write Ghost Busters (1984) and Groundhog Day (1993), among others.

Caddy Shack has a legendary comedic line up and marks the feature film debut of Rodney Dangerfield, who had already made a household name for himself from his appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show when he told his first “No respect Joke” ("I get no respect. I played hide-and-seek, and they wouldn't even look for me”). An interesting fact about the first few days of filming with Rodney is that he was bummed out at first because none of the crew was laughing at his jokes while being filmed, it had to be explained to him that they can’t laugh or it will ruin the sound.

I think this film is regarded as one of the funniest films in cinema because it showcases different types of humor, they don’t pick one comedic perspective and stick with it. What aided in the film being like this was the different, yet equally brilliant, comedians acting in it and an open script that encouraged imporv. Rodney represented the goofy/slapstick aspect, Ted Knight as the all too serious and dry Judge, Bill Murray delivered the stranger side of things as the deranged grounds keeper and Chevy Chase brought the sarcastic and over confident persona we have all come to enjoy.

Honestly, I don’t really play golf, but you know what…whenever I watch this movie I strongly consider it. I think I would be more into it if I could hang out at Bush Wood.

I have three favorite sports films of all time, they include The Sandlot (1993), Rudy (1993) and Caddy Shack (with an honorable mention to Cool Runnings, 1993)…1993 was a good year for sports films I guess. But Caddy Shack led the way for such films that touch the human soul.

Enjoy the clips

…Four!!!!!

Al Czervik Caddyshack tribute


Egon on Caddy Shack


Bill Murray: Cinderella Man