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Stars & Pars

From the silver screen to the putting green, here are 10 of our favorite celebrity golfers.

By JOEL BEERSPublished: October, 2007

From James Bond flicks and Ben Hogan biographies to the comic riffs of Carl Spackler and Happy Gilmore, Hollywood has long been attracted to the game. Off the screen, personalities such as Bob Hope and Bing Crosby helped expose the game to millions, and celebrities helped keep the PGA Tour afloat in the 1960s by lending their names to professional tournaments.
Today, more and more Hollywood stars are bringing the game to the masses on the strength of their names alone. And many of these big names raise tons of awareness and money for charitable groups by lending their presence to events.
Coming up with a list of our 10 favorite celebrity golfers wasn't easy. Ultimately, our main criteria boiled down to thinking about how fun it would be to have any one of these guys in our weekly foursome.
Ready? Roll film. It's time to cut to the chase.

Bill Murray

Southern California connection: Murray will forever be linked to the AT&T National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach, which he always plays with San Diego native Scott Simpson.
Claim to fame: Murray has enjoyed a more successful film career than most of the prestigious alumni from "Saturday Night Live." Though he's best known among golf fanatics for portraying Carl Spackler in "Caddyshack," Murray has exercised his dramatic chops as well, earning an Academy Award nomination for his work in the 2003 film "Lost in Translation."
State of his game: Murray was always on golf courses while growing up outside Chicago. He caddied and even spent time as a greenskeeper. Though he's best known for being goofy on the course when the cameras are on him, he's serious about his game and carries a single-digit handicap.
Why we picked him: How can you not put Carl Spackler on this list? "Caddyshack" is perhaps the funniest golf movie ever made, and many people can still recite some of the film's humorous lines. Murray's on-course persona during the AT&T makes him as beloved a celebrity golfer as there is anywhere.
Quotable: "What an incredible Cinderella story, this unknown comes outta nowhere to lead the pack at Augusta ... As he lines up this last shot, he's got about 195 yards left, it looks like he's got about an 8-iron. This crowd has gone deathly silent, the Cinderella story, outta nowhere, a former greenskeeper now about to become the Masters champion. It looks like a mirac... It's in the hole!" From one of Murray's often-quoted and memorable scenes in "Caddyshack."

Kevin Costner

Southern California connection: Lynwood native, Villa Park High School graduate and Cal State Fullerton alum.
Claim to fame: Oscar-winning director for "Dances with Wolves."
State of his game: Good athlete with one of the better handicaps among celebrity golfers.
Why we picked him: He's a local boy done good who is serious about the game. He took lessons from Gary McCord in preparation for his starring role in the 1996 film "Tin Cup," one of our favorite golf-oriented films.
Quotable: "Sex and golf are the two things you can enjoy even if you're not good at them," Costner said in his role as Roy McAvoy in "Tin Cup."

Joe Pesci

Southern California connection: Mostly retired from film these days, Pesci is popular at Southern California celebrity events. He plays at Lakeside Country Club and was the co-host of this year's Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation's Celebrity Golf Classic.
Claim to fame: Academy Award-winning supporting actor ("Goodfellas").
State of his game: He consistently shoots in the 80s.
Why we picked him: He's a lot of fun on the golf course and his commitment to charity-related events is evident. He even runs his own celebrity skins charity tournament in New Jersey.
Quotable: "Which one of you [expletive] blocked my driveway? If you don't move in 30 seconds, I'm gonna smash your windshield!" As widely reported on the Internet, so screamed a golf club-brandishing Pesci this year when he discovered a car blocking the driveway of his Beverly Hills home. Turns out the car belonged to a friend of Pesci's neighbor, British pop star Robbie Williams. The car was moved and Williams apologized to Pesci by buying him a Bentley.

Dennis Hopper

Southern California connection: Longtime Venice Beach resident. He's a member at Riviera Country Club and a frequent playing partner of Jack Nicholson.
Claim to fame: Academy Award-nominated actor and writer and respected director.
State of his game: Said to be a bogey golfer.
Why we picked him: There are few celebrities that would seem more incongruous on a golf course than Hopper, who blazed a wild path across Hollywood. But the sober Hopper finds as much excitement in a round of golf these days as anything chemical. In fact, it's his ability to turn his life around and find inspiration on the golf course that puts him on this list.
Quotable: In 2005, Hopper told golf writer Tom Clavin that "a lot of guys who did drugs and alcohol, they reformed by coming out of their dark rooms and going straight to the golf course. Golf is addictive. It replaces the drugs. It replaces the alcohol. It's just you and that little white ball. You concentrate on totally getting into your own scene. I see it as a natural progression, I suppose, that if you survive your drug days, you have golf ahead of you."

Jack Nicholson

Southern Cali-fornia connection: Long-time member of Bel-Air Country Club. Also plays in a number of celebrity golf tournaments, though he tends to skip the bigger circuses such as the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic and AT&T National Pro-Am. In 2005, he hosted the Jack Nicholson/Rudy Duran Golf Classic at Trump National, which netted more than $600,000 for children's charities.
Claim to fame: Twelve Academy Award nominations and three wins make him one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation.
Why we picked him: He's Jack!
State of his game: He is a very avid golfer with a handicap that hovers around 12.
Quotable: "Jack is always Jack," says Clint Wood, the founder of celebritygolf.com. "On the golf course, he's never out of character, because he's always himself. He has a lot of fun out there."

Michael Douglas (and Catherine Zeta-Jones)

Southern California connection: Hosts of the Michael Douglas and Friends golf tournament, one of the highest-profile celebrity events in the country.
Claim to fame: Douglas won a best acting Academy Award for "Wall Street" and a producer Oscar for "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest." Zeta-Jones won a best supporting actress Oscar for "Chicago."
State of their games: Last we heard, Douglas holds a handicap of 14 and Zeta-Jones' is 24.
Why we picked them: Co-hosting a major celebrity event that raises money for the Motion Picture & Television Fund is a good thing. They're also the reigning couple of celebrity golf, even though they played opposite one another in the 2005 All-Star Cup, a made-for-British-TV celebrity tournament that pitted Euros against an American team. The Welsh-born Zeta-Jones was on the victorious side.
Quotable: "When I was first so smitten with Catherine, I asked 'Do you play golf?'" Douglas recalled. "She said, 'I love it.' Yes, that's it. The deal's done!"

Ray Romano

Southern California connection: Member of Lakeside and El Caballero country clubs.
Claim to Fame: Emmy Award-winning actor and star of "Everybody Loves Raymond."
State of his game: Though he's most known for hacking it up at Pebble Beach during the AT&T National Pro-Am, Romano is reportedly becoming a much better player now that his long-running sitcom is off the air. He plays to a 13 handicap.
Why we picked him: There are few celebrities as ecstatic about the game as Romano. He loves playing to the crowd at tournaments and CBS cameras always follow him at the AT&T - or at least they did when his network show was on the air.
Quotable: "My wife has said that," Romano remarked during his 2005 HBO special about his attempt to make the cut at the AT&T. It was said in response to his Zen golf doctor who, after seeing Romano's swing advised him to "let it be a little bigger."

George Lopez

Southern California connection: Born and raised in Mission Hills, Lopez first played golf at El Cariso in Sylmar and frequently played at Hansen Park in Pacoima. Now he's a member of Lakeside Country Club. Last year he became the first celebrity host of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic since the legendary Hope himself.
Claim to fame: Star and lead writer of the ABC sitcom bearing his name. He's also a successful stand-up comic.
State of his game: Very committed golfer with a handicap of 14. He finished third among celebrities in the 2004 AT&T National Pro-Am.
Why we picked him: Great ambassador for golf who is as serious about entertaining the galleries when he plays celebrity events as he is passionate about competing.
Quotable: "I think he's a little more of an entertainer than a golfer at these events, but he's also very serious about his game," said celebritygolf.com's Wood. "After his round at the Hope one year I remember seeing him on the driving range, practicing and getting tips from professionals. He has a passion for the game and he does take it seriously and I think he's really good for golf."

Will Ferrell

Southern California connection: Irvine native and USC graduate.
Claim to fame: He followed a great "Saturday Night Live" career by launching a flourishing film career.
State of his game: Slightly better than the clubs he used at last year's Cancer for College tournament, held at Pala Mesa Resort. His clubs were an unsightly mix of sticks that looked like something Ferrell picked up at a thrift store on the way to the event.
Why we picked him: Check out his video gallery at golf.com. The nine-part series documents everything from his pick in the 2007 U.S. Open (Lee Trevino) to his grand plan to catch up to Tiger Woods over the next 10 years. But the reason behind the posting was to promote the Cancer for College tournament put on by his college buddy, Craig Pollard. Ferrell emcees the event.
Quotable: "No, I am not gay." One of the dozen times he stated that during an impromptu session with reporters before the 2006 Cancer for College event. Ferrell was never asked that rather unimportant question, by the way.

Larry David

Southern California connection: Member of Riviera Country Club, which can be seen in many episodes of his HBO show, "Curb Your Enthusiasm."
Claim to fame: Co-creator of "Seinfeld" and creator and star of the Emmy Award-winning "Curb Your Enthusiasm."
State of his game: His handicap is said to be around 13. Whether he's gotten better, we're not sure, but we know this: based on his on-screen and interview persona, he's grumbling about it.
Why we picked him: Through the first five seasons of his funny and often caustic show, David has nicked a 5-wood from a dead man's casket, exchanged green jackets with Gary Player, declared a surgeon's shaking hands as afflicted by the yips, paid a guest fee at Riviera for comedian Richard Lewis to play only to have Lewis tell him after the round he'd been bored the whole day, and met Ben Hogan in some weird version of heaven.
Quotable: "I'm happy before I play because I think there's a chance that I will do well. Then when I'm playing, I'm utterly depressed. But when I'm finished playing, I'm thrilled. I'm actually in a better mood, because I'm done with my pain and suffering. It's a win-win situation to be done playing, whether I do well or not," David once told golfonline.com's David Weiss.

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