Happy Gilmore Golf Clubs: Damage and Imitators
Here’s a breakdown of the key information from the provided text:
The Problem:
Golf facilities are seeing an increase in broken driver clubheads.
This is being attributed to people attempting the “Happy Gilmore” swing – a very aggressive, unorthodox swing popularized by the movie.
Evidence & Observations:
Moorland Road golf Center: Accola (presumably an employee) states they regularly lose clubheads downrange due to bad swings, and many of these are linked to the “Gilmore” swing. Customers’ own clubs are also being broken.
TaylorMade’s The Kingdom: Sean Cain,a PGA professional at a high-end fitting facility,notes that while they see damage,its usually cosmetic (dents on top of the driver) rather than catastrophic face cracks. He believes most people lack the athleticism to effectively mishit the ball with that swing to cause serious damage.
Big-Box Stores: Cain suggests that larger retail golf stores might be experiencing a greater increase in broken clubs due to the movie’s popularity.
Terminology:
PGSD (Post-Gilmore Stress Disorder): A humorous term used to describe the damage to golf clubs caused by people trying the “Happy Gilmore” swing.
Overall:
The article discusses a lighthearted but real phenomenon – the “Happy Gilmore” movie is inspiring people to try the character’s wild swing, and this is resulting in broken golf clubs, particularly drivers. While elite facilities see mostly cosmetic damage, there’s a concern that more casual players at larger stores might be causing more meaningful damage.
