Netflix golf projects by Sandler, Ferrell in works
If you’re a golf fan but not a Netflix subscriber, now would be a good time to jump on that bandwagon.
Adam Sandler and Will Ferrell, two of the funniest and most successful comedians of SNL’s post-Belushi/Akroyd/Murray era, have committed to golf projects on the streaming service.
More than 28 years after Happy Gilmore hit the big screen, Sandler is set to reprise the popular character, an unsuccessful ice hockey player who discovers he has a talent for golf and competes in a tournament to raise money and save his grandmother's house.
The sports comedy remains one of Sandler’s most popular films. Happy Gilmore made nearly $40 million at the worldwide box office in 1996, helping cement Sandler as a star.
Christopher McDonald, who played Gilmore’s nemesis Shooter McGavin, first stirred up rumors of Happy Gilmore 2 in March. Netflix made it official last week.
Meanwhile, according to deadline.com, Ferrell, whose acting credits have mainly focused on films, is co-creating a new Netflix comedy seriescalled GOLF. He will star as a fictional golf legend in the 10-episode series.
Ferrell is an avid golfer and has hosted The Will Powered Golf Classic, a fundraising event benefiting Cancer for College, for two decades. As an actor, writer and producer, his credits include Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy,Elf, Step Brothers, andStranger Than Fiction.
Major breakthrough for Sean Toulon with Xander Schauffele at the PGA
The Sweet Spot spied an Odyssey Toulon Design Las Vegas Prototype 7CH still in the bag of newly minted PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffle — his flatstick the work of Madison nativeSean Toulon, who took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his excitement for having one of his designs in the bag of a major champion.
"Major Satisfaction!!!" Toulon, who left Callaway Golf last summer to start Toulon Golf in partnership with Callaway, posted to his X page. "Congratulations to Xander Schauffele on his first major win! He putted like a champion with his 2022 Odyssey Toulon Las Vegas. It’s our 64th worldwide win and our first major! So proud!!!"
Schauffele ranked 24th in putts per round (28), but T-6 in putts per greens in regulation. The Toulon Las Vegas Prototype 7CH has been in Schauffele's bag since the 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational and is a hybrid design of two putters that used to be in his bag— an old Odyssey putter he used from 2020 through 2022 and the most recent Odyssey Toulon XS Proto Silver early in 2023.
According to the equipment Website GolfWRX, the Las Vegas putter looks the same as his old putters at address, but has a blacked-out, diamond-milled face instead of the former White Hot insert and is painted red like his previous putters.His caddie Austin Kaiser told GolfWRXthat Schauffele prefers red because of how it looks against the green of the putting surface.
Hannah Dunk announces transfer from UWGB to North Dakota State
Much to The Sweet Spot's dismay, there are three seasons in college athletics these days: The regular season, thepostseason and the transfer season.
The latter is becoming far too busy and we were reminded of that Sunday whenour Instagram feed revealedthat Janesville'sHannah Dunk, a former Milton High School standout,has opted to transfer to North Dakota State after one season at UW-Green Bay.
At No. 1,147 in the NCAA Division I women's individual rankings, Dunk was the highest-ranked Phoenix golfer after finishing her freshman season with a 78.7 scoring average in 24 rounds with a 303-204-12 record against golfers in tournaments UWGB played. UWGB, the third-place finisher in the Horizon League, is ranked 235th in the NCAA Division I rankings; North Dakota State, which finished sixth in the Summit League, is ranked 149th.
Dunk is poised to become the fourth Wisconsin golfer on the Bison's roster, joining rising seniorsElise Hovenof Grafton andJo Baranczykof Green Bay and rising sophom*oreNorah Robertsof Racine. Dunk played countless junior golf tournaments against Roberts, who is ranked No. 792 nationally after a rookie season in which she compiled a 76.4 average and 500-312-27 record.
The wonderful world of technology has not only given us the NCAA Transfer Portal, but also enough statistical data to make The Sweet Spot dizzy. To our point, NCAA women's golf data suggests that Dunk will be challenged to crack the starting lineup at NDSU, ranking behind all seven golfers who had enough rounds to qualify, for a Bison program ranked 109 spots behind Summit League champion Denver University (No. 40), a similar distance UWGB is to Horizon League champion Oakland University (No. 143), both in conferences that seldom get more than their automatic bid each year to the NCAA Regionals.
Bay Port girls coach off to UW-Oshkosh
For all the wildly successful high school golf coaches plyingtheir craft around the state, The Sweet Spot doesn't understand why more of them haven't connected with Wisconsin's small colleges when coaching positions at the so-called next level come open.
Suffice it to say, then, we applaud UW-Oshkosh for getting Bay Port coachJeff Johnsento fill its women's coaching vacancy last week.
Johnsen enjoyed a successful eight-year run at Bay Port, leading the Pirates to six Fox River Classic Conference titles and seven WIAA state tournament berths highlighted by a runner-up finish at the 2020-21 alternate season state tournament in May of 2021. He coached current North Dakota State golferJo Baranczykto WIAA state titles in 2018, 2019 and 2021, making her just the fourth golfer in WIAA history to win at least three state championships.
At Oshkosh, Johnsen will be looking to provide some stability to an NCAA Division III program that will be welcoming its fifth coach in the last six years. Johnsen replacesTyler Cassmeyer, who had no golf coaching experience when he was hired last August.
Johnsen begins his new position July 1. He becomes the fourth coach among the eight schools in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to come from the high school ranks, joiningAndrea Wieland(UW-Whitewater),David Taebel(UW-La Crosse) andBryan Orlenko(UW-River Falls). UW-Stout director of golfAndrew Delongwas also a former high school coach (at Sheboygan North), but last December handed the head coaching duties of the women's team to former University of Missouri golferSophia Yoemans.
"I am very excited for my new challenge of coaching at the next level in golf," Johnsen said in a news release. "I am eager to get to work right away, making UW-Oshkosh a perennial contender in the WIAC.”
Stoughton golfer aces memorable part of Scotland trip
Larry Donaldson didn't waste much time carving out the memory of a lifetime last week when he and 15 other members of Stoughton CountryClub teed it up at Royal Dornoch GC in Scotland.
Donaldson made a hole-in-one on the 170-yard, par-3 second hole of Royal Dornoch's famous Championship Course, ranked No. 3 on Golf Digest's list of the World's 100 Greatest Golf Courses outside the United States.
He used a 5-iron to ace the hole, which five-time Open Championship winner Tom Watson once called the most difficult shot in golf because it typically is difficult to keep the ball on the green and out of the deep pot bunkers guarding the front.
Former Bucks owner Marc Lasry invests in TGL
Marc Lasry, who sold his 25% ownership stake in the Milwaukee Bucks in April 2023, is back as a franchise owner.
This time, however, the sport is golf.
Lasry’s Avenue Sports Fund recently announced The Bay Golf Club as the sixth founding team of the TGL presented by SoFi, ahead of the technology-focused golf league’s debut in January 2025.
Lasry is joined by co-owners and four-time NBA champions Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala.
The Bay Golf Club’s inaugural roster features four players ranked inside the top 40 in the Official World Golf Ranking: 2023 U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, Ludvig Åberg, Min Woo Lee and 2019 Open champion Shane Lowry.
TGL was founded by Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and TMRW Sports. PGA Tour golfers on six four-player teams will compete at SoFi Center, a 1,500-seat, tech-infused arena in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
“Avenue Sports Fund invested inThe Bay Golf Clubbecause we are excited to bring a new team and innovative game to the growing number ofgolf fans regionally and nationally,” said Lasry, chairman and CEO of Avenue Capital Group. “We believe thatThe Bay Golf Clubwill be a beloved team in Northern California and beyond.”
AmFam Championship field loaded with international stars
The American Family Insurance Championship has always drawn a strong contingent of international players, and the 2024 tournament, June 7-9 at University Ridge, will be no different.
Among the players who have committed are Steven Alker of New Zealand, Stephen Ames of Canada, first-timer Thomas Bjorn of Denmark, Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland, Ernie Els of South Africa, Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain, Colin Montgomerie of Scotland and Vijay Singh of Fiji, among other notables.
They will join defending champion and tournament host Steve Stricker and former champions Thongchai Jaidee (2022), Jerry Kelly (2019, 2021), Kirk Triplett (2016) and Scott McCarron (2018).
The final field will be announced May 31. Tickets are available for purchase atwww.amfam.championship.com.
Former Augusta National employee stole millions in merch
A former employee of Augusta National Golf Club faces up to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty last week to stealing millions of dollars worth of Masters memorabilia and historic items, including a green jacket belonging to Arnold Palmer.
According to federal prosecutors, Richard Globensky made about $5 million over the course of a decade from selling items stolen from the Augusta National warehouse, which were then transported to another party in Florida.
Globensky, 39, pleaded guilty to one count of transporting stolen goods across state lines and will be sentenced in October. According to The Chicago Tribune, he was in charge of overseeing Masters merchandise and memorabilia sold annually during the tournament.
Tap-ins, lip-outs and double-breakers
Green Bay native Bill Heim, a three-time WIAA Division 1 state champion who caddied for Rich Beem when he won the 2002 PGA Championship at Hazeltine GC in Chaska, Minn., will reunite with his old boss this week at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Benton Harbor, Mich. ... A celebration of life for popular golf teacher Russ Gorman will be held June 13 at Western Lakes Golf Club in Pewaukee. Hours for the open house will be 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Gorman, who taught thousands of lessons in corporate settings, died Oct. 26, 2023. He was 77. … The Sweet Spot wishes Waterford’s Joyce Malison a happy 90th birthday Monday. Malison played on the 1954 U.S. Curtis Cup team and then won five tournaments on the LPGA Tour, including the 1960 Women’s Western Open, which was considered a major championship at the time. She also finished second in the 1960 U.S. Women’s Open. Malison, elected to the Wisconsin Golf Hall of Fame in 1975, still plays a mean game at her home course, Rivermoor Country Club.
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