[From Tin Cup, after Dave Simms refuses to attempt a 250 yard shot over a water hazard:]
Roy ‘Tin Cup’ McAvoy: “Fifteen years on the tour an’ you’re still a fuckin’ pussy.”
Dave Simms: “Thirteen years on the driving range and you still think this game is about your testosterone count.”
Yeah. Tin Cup‘s a great sports movie, baby. Somewhat topically, this little exchange took place on the golf course today:
Croucher: “Are you wearing the hat that you wear, or the hat that you wear after you’re done wearing it?”
Me: “Well, I’m wearing it, aren’t I?”
It’s not Cup, but it’s funny. Kevin was referring to the fact that I have two matching hats: one that I wear on the course, and an identical one I wear after I’m done playing the round. My hats tend to get pretty sweat-covered out there, and I like a clean, sweat-free hat after the round to cover my head.

But it got me thinking about personalized golf lingo, which is the point of this post. My foursome has a number of “inside joke” sayings that I’ll share with you here now.
“You gonna Kevin Costner this, or Don Johnson it?” Kevin Costner’s character in the aforementioned flick – Roy ‘Tin Cup’ McAvoy- always goes long whenever he can, and never lays up in front of the water or a gap. Don Johnson’s character, Dave, always plays it safe by laying up. Our turn of phrase, therefore, is asking which one the other guy’s going to try and pull off.
“You or me, Dave?” Also from Tin Cup. This is something that Amir and I started doing a few years ago. At one point in the film, both Roy and Dave are pretty much equal distance from the hole, and Roy’s asking which one of them is further [and therefore going first]. The correct response to this is to point at oneself; it’s really more of an invite for the other guy to hit first when your balls are close in distance more than it is an actual question. Kevin likes to reply to this with the classic response of “Dave’s not here man”, which I allow only because Cheech Marin is involved in both bits.
“Marshal? Can you please move these people back? Because I’m coming right through here.” Costner’s in a woooded area, and is going to bank a shot off a Port-A-Potty to get back on the fairway. We generally use this phrase when making a difficult shot from the woods.
“Skinner? You’re an odd fellow, but you steam a good ham.” That’s a Simpson’s reference, and pops out when someone has said or done something odd. Superintendent Chalmers quips it to Principal Skinner.
“Gunga galunga… gunga, gunga-galunga.” Caddyshack, baby. I don’t know what the hell it means, but it’s funny.
“You have to hit it, Susan.” Leaving a putt short will often elicit this phrase from another. Alternate favourites are “Next time, try hitting it with your purse” and “Great putt. Does your husband play golf?” My favourite variation comes from Dennis, though, who will just yell “SUSAAAANNN!” at himself sometimes when he doesn’t putt hard enough.
***
PARTING SHOT: Kevin and I hit Seaton today, and I had a horrid 103. It was, however, the best 103 I’ve ever had. The clubs were singin’, and if it wasn’t for one or two terrible holes I’d have been alright. Kevin didn’t have a great day either, but the weather was nice and we had a blast. Go to Seaton, will you? It’s fun.
- BC
Carl Spackler, Caddyshack: “So I jump ship in Hong Kong and make my way over to Tibet, and I get on as a looper at a course over in the Himalayas. A looper, you know, a caddy, a looper, a jock. So, I tell them I’m a pro jock, and who do you think they give me? The Dalai Lama himself. Twelfth son of the Lama. The flowing robes, the grace, bald… striking. So, I’m on the first tee with him. I give him the driver. He hauls off and whacks one – big hitter, the Lama – long, into a ten-thousand foot crevasse, right at the base of this glacier. Do you know what the Lama says? ‘Gunga galunga… gunga, gunga-galunga’. So we finish the eighteenth and he’s gonna stiff me. And I say, ‘Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know.’ And he says, ‘Oh, uh, there won’t be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness.’ So I got that goin’ for me, which is nice.”