Caddyshack

Danny Noonan works as a caddie at the exclusive Bushwood Country Club to earn money to pay for college. Danny caddies for Ty Webb, a mischievous lothario and the son of one of Bushwood's co-founders. Danny tries to curry favor with Judge Elihu Smails, the country club's haughty co-founder and director of the caddie scholarship program, by caddying for him. Meanwhile, Carl Spackler, a mentally unstable greenskeeper, hunts a potentially destructive gopher reported by Smails. Spackler attempts to kill it with a rifle and high-pressure hose but fails.

Al Czervik, a loud and free-spirited nouveau riche golfer and successful real estate developer, attends the club as a guest. Czervik loudly offers a wager, distracting Smails as he tees off and causing his shot to go wrong. Later, bored by slow play, Czervik wagers with Smails again. Smails is enraged for losing the bet and angrily throws his putter, injuring an elderly woman. Danny takes the blame for the incident to impress Smails. Smails encourages him to apply for the caddie scholarship.

At Bushwood's annual Fourth of July banquet, Danny and his girlfriend Maggie work as wait staff. Czervik continues to bully Smails and the older club members while entertaining and befriending the younger ones, as well as the staff, to whom he consistently gives generous tips. Danny becomes attracted to Smails' promiscuous niece Lacey Underall who is visiting for the summer and frequents the club.

Later, Danny wins the Caddy Day golf tournament and the scholarship, earning him an invitation from Smails to attend the christening ceremony for his boat at the nearby Rolling Lakes Yacht Club. Smails's boat is sunk at the event after a collision with Czervik's larger boat. Returning home, Smails discovers Lacey and Danny in bed at his house. Expecting to be fired, Danny is surprised when Smails only demands that he keeps the escapade secret in exchange for awarding him the caddy scholarship.

Unable to bear the continued presence of the uncouth Czervik, Smails confronts him and announces that he will never be granted membership. Czervik counters by announcing that he would never consider being a member: he only claimed to be a guest to evaluate buying the club and developing the land into condominiums. After a brief fight and exchange of insults, Webb suggests they discuss the situation over drinks. After Smails demands satisfaction, Czervik proposes a secret team golf match with Smails and his regular golfing partner Dr. Beeper against Czervik and Webb. Against club rules, they also agree to a $20,000 wager on the match, which quickly doubles to $40,000. That evening, Webb practices for the game against Smails, and his errant shot brings him to meet Carl; the two share a bottle of wine and a joint.

The match is held the next day. Word spreads of the stakes involved, drawing in a crowd of club members and employees. During the game, Smails and Beeper take the lead, while Czervik, to his chagrin, is "playing the worst game of his life". Webb grows increasingly distracted and also plays a poor game. Czervik reacts to Smails' heckling by impulsively doubling the wager to $80,000 per team. When his own ricocheting ball strikes his arm, Czervik fakes an injury in hopes of having the contest declared a draw. Lou, a club staffer who is acting as the umpire, tells Czervik his team will forfeit unless they find a substitute. When Webb chooses Danny, Smails threatens to revoke his scholarship. Czervik promises Danny that he will make it "worth his while" if he wins, and Danny chooses to play.

Upon reaching the final hole, the score is tied. Judge Smails scores a birdie. Danny has to complete a difficult putt to draw even. However, Czervik bets Smails into going double or nothing based on Danny making the putt. Smails reluctantly accepts. Danny's putt leaves the ball hanging over the edge of the hole. At that moment, in his latest attempt to kill the gopher, Carl detonates plastic explosives that he has rigged around the golf course, shaking the ground and cause the ball to drop into the hole, handing Danny, Webb, and Czervik victory on the wager. Smails refuses to pay, so Czervik summons two intimidating men named Moose and Rocco to "help the judge find his checkbook". As they chase Smails, Czervik quotes to the onlookers, "Hey, everybody, we're all gonna get laid!" and a party begins.

Some distance away, the gopher emerges from underground, unharmed, and dances to the film's main theme, "I'm Alright," amid the smoldering ruins of the golf course as the credits roll.

The film was inspired by writer and co-star Brian Doyle-Murray's memories of working as a caddie at Indian Hill Club in Winnetka, Illinois. His brothers Bill and John Murray (production assistant and a caddy extra) and director Harold Ramis also had worked as caddies when they were teenagers. Many of the characters in the film were based on characters they had encountered through their various experiences at the club, including a young woman upon whom the character of Maggie is based and the Haverkamps, a doddering old couple, John and Ilma, longtime members of the club, who can barely hit the ball out of their shadows. The scene in which Al Czervik hits Judge Smails in the genitals with a struck golf ball happened to Ramis on what he said was the second of his two rounds of golf, on a nine-hole public course.[5]

The film was shot over eleven weeks during the autumn of 1979; Hurricane David in early September delayed production. Golf scenes were filmed at the Rolling Hills Golf Club (now the Grande Oaks Golf Club) in Davie, Florida.[6] According to Ramis, Rolling Hills was chosen because the course did not have any palm trees. He wanted the film to feel that it was in the Midwest, not Florida. The explosions that take place during the climax of the film were reported at the nearby Fort Lauderdale airport by an incoming pilot, who suspected that a plane had crashed.[7] The Fourth of July dinner and dancing scene was filmed at the Boca Raton Hotel and Club in Boca Raton, Florida, while the yacht club scene was shot at the Rusty Pelican Restaurant in Key Biscayne, Florida.[8]

The scene that begins when Ty Webb's golf ball crashes into Carl Spackler's shack was not in the original script. It was added by director Harold Ramis after realizing that two of his biggest stars, Chevy Chase and Bill Murray, did not appear in a scene together. The three met for lunch and wrote the scene. This is the only film that Chase and Murray have appeared in together.[9]

Murray improvised much of the "Cinderella story" scene based on two lines of stage direction. Ramis gave him direction to act as a child. Murray hit flowers with a grass whip while fantasizing aloud about winning the U.S. Masters; a major golf tournament.[9] Murray was with the production only six days, and his lines were largely unscripted.[5] Murray was working on Saturday Night Live at the time, and was not intended to have a large role but his part "mushroomed" and he was repeatedly recalled from New York to film additional scenes as production continued.[10]

Cindy Morgan said that a massage scene with Chevy Chase was improvised, and her reaction to Chase dousing her back with the massage oil, where she exclaimed "You're crazy!" was genuine.[11] A scene in which her character dove into the pool was acted by a professional diver. Before the diver took over, she was led to the diving board by the crew and carefully directed up the ladder since she could not wear her contact lenses near the pool and was legally blind without them.[12]

A deal was made with John Dykstra's[9] effects company for visual effects, including lightning, stormy sky effects, flying golf balls and disappearing greens' flags. The gopher was part of the effects package. Dykstra's technicians added hydraulic animation to the puppet, including ear movement, and built the tunnels through which it moved.

The production became infamous for the amount of drug usage which occurred on-set, with supporting actor Peter Berkrot describing cocaine as "the fuel that kept the film running."[13]

In anticipation of the movie, the Kenny Loggins single "I'm Alright" was released nearly three weeks before the movie opened and became a top ten hit the last week of September 1980.[33] CBS Records also issued a soundtrack to Caddyshack later that year. It included ten songs, four of which were performed by Kenny Loggins, including "I'm Alright."

There was a sequel called Caddyshack II (1988) which performed poorly at the box office and is considered one of the worst sequels of all time.[34] Only Chevy Chase reprised his role.

In 2007, Taylor Trade Publishing released The Book of Caddyshack, an illustrated paperback retrospective of the movie, with cast and crew Q&A interviews. The book was written by Scott Martin.[35]

In April 2018, Flatiron Books published Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story by Chris Nashawaty, detailing the making of the film.[36]

On June 7, 2001, Bill Murray, Brian Doyle-Murray and their brothers opened a themed restaurant inspired by the film at the World Golf Village, near St. Augustine, Florida. The restaurant is meant to resemble the fictional Bushwood Country Club, and serves primarily American cuisine. The brothers are all active partners and make occasional appearances at the restaurant. Three more Caddyshack restaurants were opened, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Orlando; and Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. These are now closed, leaving the original in St. Augustine their flagship location, open to fans and diners.[37]

Bill Murray and two of his brothers, Andy and Joel, were in attendance when another venue opened in Rosemont, Illinois, in April 2018.[38]

Wikiquote has quotations related to Caddyshack.

• Caddyshack at IMDb
• Caddyshack at AllMovie
• Caddyshack at the TCM Movie Database
• Caddyshack at Box Office Mojo
• Caddyshack at the American Film Institute Catalog
• Caddyshack, an homage to Doug Kenney, ESPN/Golf Digest, April 2004
• "Caddyshack Culture" – Meta-critique from the erstwhile Suck.com.
• 2009 documentary Caddyshack: The Inside Story on IMDB