Midwest Golfing Magazine’s coverage area hits deep into the heart of Michigan. Why is that important? Well, because the great city of Grand Rapids is represented in the new “The Phantom of the Open” golf movie with award-winning stars at their finest.
Brought to you by the professionals at Sony Pictures Classics, “Phantom” begins its run in theaters nationwide beginning June 3 and we are thankful for it.
The cool trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYbJWWnQHSE
The new, family-friendly “Phantom” is the hilarious, heartwarming and unbelievably true story of a dreamer and unrelenting optimist, Maurice Flitcroft, the “World’s Worst Golfer.”
An ordinary man and 46-year-old, British shipyard worker, Maurice – with encouragement from his family – made history by reminding us to dream big, no matter the outcome. When his shipyard let him go, Maurice feels it’s time to try his hand at something new. Deciding on a whim that golf is his new calling, the budding sportsman sets his sights on mastering the game.
But Maurice is not a man to do things by halves and, in a turn of events that can’t be made up, he secures a coveted spot in the qualifying round of the 1976 Open Championship (won by Johnny Miller) and subsequently shot the worst round in Open history (121, by golly), becoming an international folk hero in the process.
The film stars Oscar winner Mark Rylance and two-time Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner Sally Hawkins as Maurice and Jean Flitcroft. One scene presents a classic, endearing and chuckle-out-loud locker-room conversation between Maurice and Seve Ballesteros. Other scenes involve Maurice’s sons, two disco fanatics of the ’70s with upbeat, nostalgic sing-along music blasting.
Grand Rapids enters the movie thanks, in large part, to golf journalist and icon Terry Moore who’s based there. Moore got wind of Maurice’s 121 and flew him and his family across the pond to Grand Rapids to christen the “Maurice G. Flitcroft Tournament” in honor of the world’s worst golfer. Maurice at the podium there is one of the movie’s most poignant moments and puts an exclamation point to the true meaning of family.
“Phantom” is the standard bearer for #GolfForEveryone and #GoodForGolf, and represents all that stands for the game we love.
