Golf – The Ridiculous Obsession

 

Picture: C+     Sound: B-     Extras: C-     Episodes: B-

 

 

A recent two-part TV show, Golf – The Ridiculous Obsession (2002) asked the burning question as to the recreational sport’s popularity.  Instead of trying to answer it directly, writer/director Robert Duncan comes up with a series of vignettes that show the highs and lows of many a pursuit of the game.

 

From the Buhl steel fortune leaving the world’s only public golf course in Pennsylvania, to the wife of a well-off family searching for missing balls in poison oak, to most people playing the sport knowing they are going to fair badly, the following is wider than you might expect (60+ million according to the DVD case.)  Thinking of it as a sport might not gel with some people, but the program and media never consider it as being in between checkers and chess.  Those are board games, but so many still think of it as a bored game.

 

There are other interesting stories and to keep up the idea that everyone involved is off-kilter, Duncan actually keeps the game a bit mystified.  The program is not as silly as the DVD cover may suggest (Dorf on Golf anyone, with special guest Ray Stevens?) but this is far from a serious examination of what can be deemed a phenomenon.  I also found it odd current stars like Tiger Woods were ignored altogether.  That’s the kind of show it is.

 

The full frame program was recently shot on color, analog videotape.  It is nice and clean, with the usual limits.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has Pro Logic surrounds, but nothing extraordinary.  The extras are limited to four text sections, brief, with golf facts and trivia.

 

So there you have it.  This is more of a special interest program than a documentary, but if you enjoy golf or are fascinated by why it is successful, this is for you.  Otherwise, beware of a certain “B.S.” factor.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo