A Gentleman's Game--Rolling Green CC

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Not being able to sleep, I just finished watching a movie called "A Gentleman's Game ' starring Mason Gamble, Gary Sinise, Phillip Baker Hall as well as a host of others, including Ellen Muth of Dead Like Me fame. {place chettah-like mating sound here}

I was surprised to see that they utilized Rolling Green CC in Philly for this production, and while the shots seemed to be the same throughout, most of it looked pretty awesome. That Bill Flynn really knew what he was doing there, eh?

Looking further on IMDB, it says that the Co-writer's parents lived on the golf course, and since this movie is a coming of age/golf is a metaphore for life-movie, if the membership at Rolling Hills is anything like this fictional membership of elite Fox Chase CC then WOW! The gossip that must be going on at that club!

Mayday, please do tell us more about this!

[A_Clay_Man]

Tommy, Kind of sad, wasn't it? Proves, money don't buy class or integrity.

[Carlyle Rood]

I loved the first thirty minutes of the film.  It deteriorated from there.

I presume the membership is entirely different from the one depicted in the movie.  The behavior of the membership is so outrageous, I'm amazed you're even curious if it's true.  Like a lot of authors, he probably just found it convenient to describe physical surroundings he's familiar with rather than making it up entirely.

The movie utilizes a popular cliche that wealthy people are inherently selfish and bad people who earned their wealth by cheating the poor.  Apparently now rich people molest poor people too.  That's a new twist.  I'm just grateful that they didn't film the movie in Atlanta so I wouldn't have to endure Southern stereotypes as well.

[Dan Herrmann]

Our friend, Mayday Malone, a RG member, has a brief cameo.

[Scott_Burroughs]

Tommy,

This movie has been discussed in the past.  Our own Mike "Mayday" Malone was an extra in the movie.

I certainly hope this wasn't your first viewings of RGGC, as Wayne Morrison did a fine My Home Course piece on RG about 18 months ago here, that I'm sure you've already seen before, right?  

[TEPaul]

TommyN;

The dynamics of that club in the movie was certainly not supposed to represent Rolling Green. The interesting cameo (actually more than that) is the little blond kid that the protagonist in the movie played in that club championship featured in the movie. That blond kid is Billy Stewart from Llanerch C.C. who'd won the Philalephia Amateur that year when still in high school.

[Jason Mandel]

Billy then went on to win the Atlantic 10 Individual Championship as a freshman,  the kid is a freak of nature, my brother who is about 6'4 225 pounds played with him at Applebrook last year and Billy, who is probably about 5'8 140 pounds dripping wet, consitenly outdrove him by about 30 yards!

Jason

[TEPaul]

Jason:

I think you got that wrong. Billy Stewart is not a gnat's hair over 5'5" and he's probably more like 5'4"--and the thing is he ain't gonna be growing!

But an unusual athelete he certainly is. He was an excellent tennis player before becoming a good golfer and he can do basically anything with the ball it would seem.

A few years ago after he won the Philly Junior championship I was sitting having dinner at his table following the Mason Dixon Matches---12 man merit teams between GAP vs the Mid-Atlantic at HVGC and he was telling me how he can put massive top-spin on his tee shots like the over-spin shot in tennis. He said,

"Come on, do you want to see me do it, I'll show you right now?"

I said;

"Billy, it's about 9 o'clock at night and it's pitch black out there!"

[Jason Mandel]

5"5 is probably right, its just hard to fathom.  I know he went out to see Butch Harmon last summer and Butch was quite impressed.

[mike_malone]

 I appear in the movie for one second after being on set for 20 hours.The writer is the son of my sponsor at RGGC.He does not live next to the club.The membership in the movie is much more upscale than RG.There are probably some "types" at RG that appear in the movie,but the closest are the caddies.Tom ,the writer was a caddie at RG.The interior shots were done at The Racquet Club in Philly.
     The filming was done just before we regrassed---the scene of the "cheating" that the dad caves in on was on #15 green---THEY PAINTED THAT GREEN!!
Another funny thging is the dad being given a 4 or 5 iron to hit to the 125 yard #16 hole---the kid in the movie never got the ball in the air that i saw.

[TEPaul]

"I appear in the movie for one second after being on set for 20 hours."

Mayday:

Well, at least your cameo time stayed in the movie instead of having most of it end up on the editing room floor!

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Great stuff really. The features of the course looked really good.

Scott, Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to read Wayne's My Home Course piece. I have a hard enough time following my own posts. Also if you thought I was comparing the memberships of Rolling Green to the mythical Fox Chase, well then you totally missed the humor.

Now Mayday, How about that Ellen Muth!

My mistake on the house. It was actually the one where the main character lives correct?

[Scott_Burroughs]

Tommy,

I haven't seen the movie to fully understand the membership reference, but I think I figured the gist of it.

The My Home Course pieces are basically course profiles, just like Ran's profiles.  Have you looked at Ran's course profiles?

[mike_malone]

 Ellen Muth---the mother? or the young girl?
    The scenes in the young boys home were filmed in the author's home

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Mayday, It was the young one.

[mike_malone]

 I saw her when we did the banquet scene,but i liked the old lady better,---showing my age

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Something I missed in the movie, was the mom suffering from depression or something?  (I may have been nodding in and out)

[Carlyle Rood]

Something I missed in the movie, was the mom suffering from depression or something?  (I may have been nodding in and out)

That was sort of unclear in the movie.  I just presumed that she was.

C