At The Movies

One of the great joys of involvement in this game of ours is the enjoyment of all the great golf movies, cinematic tour de forces such as ....ummm....err......  Let's face it, golf movies have always sucked, currently suck and in the future have a high probability of major suckage... Seems to be the nature of the beast, so deal with it we must.

But I'm pleased to report that the bride and I settled in for a typically exciting Saturday night in the Simpson household, and watched an enchanting little documentary that I can recommend to you highly.  It's called The Short Game and it follows eight youngsters, each 7 or 8 years old, as they prepare for and participate in the U.S. Kids Golf World Championships at Pinehurst (the golf all seems to be played at Mid-Pines, technically, though there's quite a few scenes filmed at the Pinehurst Resort, and Putter Boy and Payne Stewart make brief appearances).  While half of the kids come from the U.S., the remaining four are spread around the globe, including unlikely golf locales such as the Philippines and downtown Paris.

Not surprisingly, the kids are just adorable.  But more than that, it's a refreshingly candid look at how such prodigies grow up, their struggles to control their emotions (spoiler alert: clubs are tossed), their complicated relationships with their parents (father-daughter/caddy-player relationships providing great drama) and coping with success and failure.  But one comes away liking them all the more, and absolutely covetous of their swings.

The most remarked upon of the eight is Alan, Kournikova, partially because he seems like a little adult most of the time but also by virtue of being Anna's little brother.  Given the age gap, I'm guessing he's either a half-brother or his parents have an extremely happy marriage....(wink, wink).  But that's of little import, as they can all really play.

The trailer can be found here, and it's available for streaming by Netflix subscribers.  The PGA of America has been involved somehow in promoting the film, and its Executive Producers are Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel.  But that's over-analyzing...just give it a look, you'll come away smiling.

Alexa Pano and Alan Kournikova, mid-flirt.  She is referred to by the other kids as Mrs. Kournikova.