Caddyshack, Tin Cup and Happy Gilmore are arguably three of the greatest — or at least the most quotable — golf movies in history. Even their own actors still quote lines from the movies.

[quote_box_center]”I’m going to get philosophical on you guys for a second,” Michael O’Keefe, who played Danny Noonan in Caddyshack, said on the red carpet at Riviera Country Club. “A donut without a hole, is a danish.”[/quote_box_center]

In honor of the Oscars just down the road, and its new R15 line of metalwoods, TaylorMade rolled out a red carpet and a drive-in movie theater on the range at Riviera on Wednesday before the Northern Trust Open for its “Made of Greatness” movie premiere.

And four of golf’s greatest characters (three fictional, one real) attended.

Michael O’Keefe (Caddyshack’s Danny Noonan), Chris McDonald (Happy Gilmore’s Shooter McGavin), Don Johnson (Tin Cup’s David Simms) and Sergio Garcia (Kryptonite to the U.S. Ryder Cup Team) met at Riviera to talk TaylorMade’s new R15 driver, tell behind-the-scenes stories from the movie sets and tour events, and watch a montage of golf’s greatest movie scenes on a 40-foot tall blow-up movie screen.

Why the Northern Trust Open? Why Riviera?

Riviera’s grounds have been the bridge between golf and Hollywood since the course’s inception.

The course, which used to be called Los Angeles Athletic Club Golf Course, is in Pacific Palisades, just minutes from Hollywood (depending on the infamous L.A. traffic, of course), and it has long been tied to celebrities and the big screen.

Celebrities such as Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, Dean Martin, Humphrey Bogart, Larry David, Tom Brady, Mark Whalberg, Luke Wilson, Dennis Quaid and Happy Gilmore’s Adam Sandler are on the list of past and current members at “The Riv.”

The course also provided the the setting for scenes from Henry Fonda’s Blockade, Follow the Sun, a movie highlighting Ben Hogan’s comeback, Pat and Mike, starring club members Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy and Babe Zaharias, and The Caddy, with cameos from Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Ben Hogan among others.

With the Oscars approaching that Sunday, hosting a drive-in golf movie on Wednesday at the Northern Trust Open on the grounds of Riviera made all too much sense.

“An event like this shows what TaylorMade is all about,” Garcia said. “They’re a big company that does big things. It shows the product, shows innovation.”

Fans of TaylorMade know its propensity to do things bigger and whiter, I mean brighter — something Hollywood knows how to do, as well.

The event lacked the snobbery of the Oscars — it was laid back and fun — but it had all the glamour.

Over introductions, a mac-and-cheese buffet and Grey Goose cocktails, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin songs played over the range. The experience was reminiscent of the Rat-Pack days, and in a nostalgic frame of mind, the tunes brought to life Ben Hogan’s spirit, which is draped across Riviera’s grounds.

Riviera Country Club is one of two courses nicknamed “Hogan’s Alley,” and a statue in his memory stands near the first tee. As I stood on the range Wednesday night, marveling at the lavish setup while Sinatra songs played in my ear, I looked down to see divots on the ground beneath me. I couldn’t help but think about Hogan and how he dug his swing out of the dirt on the same ground. Divots never seemed so romantic.

It’s been 67 years since Hogan last hoisted a trophy at Riviera, where he won three times (L.A. Open 1947-48, U.S. Open 1948). It’s been 35 years since Danny Noonan sank the match-winning putt and Bushwood set fire, 19 years since Happy Gilmore beat up Bob Barker and beat out Shooter McGavin, 19 years since Roy McAvoy made a 12 on the last hole of the U.S. Open, and 16 years since Sergio hit a blind shot at Medinah’s 16th hole for the 1999 PGA Championship, sprinting up the hill and kicking his feet.

It’s also been 13 years since TaylorMade introduced the R-Series with its R500 series drivers, and 11 years since the company first unveiled movable-weight technology in its R7 Quad driver.

The event celebrated all of that golfing history — memorable movie characters, years of technological innovation and golfing greatness came together — and Sergio, O’Keefe, McDonald and Johnson were given centerstage to reminisce.

The set of Caddyshack didn’t seem to lend its hand to long-lasting memories, however, with its party-centric atmosphere.

“If you remember being on the set of Caddyshack, you weren’t there,” O’Keefe said.

Johnson told stories about Kevin Costner, who played Roy McAvoy, and the strippers from certain scenes in Tin Cup. Johnson’s daughter, Dakota Johnson, attended this years Oscars for her starring role in Fifty Shades of Grey. As a father, Don seemed less-than-thrilled to talk about it.

McDonald told us he used his time on camera to hone his golf skills. Adam Sandler, on the other hand, had to hit wiffle balls during the golf scenes because he was so bad. I was told by Johnson that wiffle balls would have been a good idea for Costner as well, as he injured a few extras on set with errant tee shots during filming.

Sergio told Ryder Cup stories, and his passion for the event is chilling. If ever there was a movie made about the Ryder Cup, Sergio would certainly be cast as the villain who devastates the U.S. team. He’s a fiery competitor who strives for greatness, as TaylorMade showed in its black-and-white, documentary-style short film with his voice-over.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvqWIWPXRWs

He watched along with the event-goers as tears built in his eyes.

The featured video, titled “Made of Greatness,” was a collection of the best golf scenes in movie, and television, history.

Many of the clips came from Caddyshack, Happy Gilmore and Tin Cup, but scenes from the Legend of Baggar Vance, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Animal House, Sideways and I Love You, Man, among others, were used in the video.

I was lucky enough to stand next to Chris McDonald for a while as the video played. He recited his lines along with Shooter, which for any Happy Gilmore fan (that’s me) was heart-melting. He laughed so hard he cried when Bob Barker beat up Happy Gilmore. You could feel his connection to golf and cinema as he watched.

For any golfer and movie buff, the collection of scenes brought memories, laughter and inspiration. Hollywood has a unique way of evoking such strong feelings.

I mean, really, a drive-in movie on the range at a PGA Tour event? Leave it to TaylorMade to pull that one off.