I guess you would call it a docker in the U.S. but that was the only option. A tournament was even established in his name in the United States, celebrating effort over ability. Its pin high, dad, he cried. The fact he wasnt put down by that and realised he could apply from abroad as a foreigner and wear a disguise, I just loved that. His family did very kindly send me his wonderful red hat, but it was too small, so we used a replica. Not, mind you, that it was easily arranged. Fast forward again to Flitcrofts appearance at Blythefield in 1988, where he and Jean and their sons were the guests of honour. He tried to play a hand other than what was dealt to him. On each occasion, officialdom had refused to give him back his entry fee. But Phantom, directed by Craig Roberts from a script by Paddington 2 writer Simon Farnaby, shows what happens when that formula isn't finessed; when a film is allowed to drift into saccharine homilies at the expense of dramatic tension. Gene would hear none of that, the reason being that he and his twin brother were disco-dancing champions who had always drawn strength from seeing fellow competitors in a spot of bother. He also used hats and pseudonyms. Flitcroft, then 46, became a popular figure after shooting 121 in the qualifying round. I cant afford that! The Phantom of the Open aims to emulate this triumph. While the brothers took a fair amount of ribbing, it was far worse for Maurice who was given his marching orders from work. The chain-smoking crane driver made countless disastrous attempts to qualify for golfs most famous tournament despite never having played a round of golf before. We had the great pleasure of playing a links course in Folkestone, so along the coast. (Oh, I hope not!) He was inspired to enter the tournament by Walter Danecki, a postal worker from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA,[9] who, after being barred from becoming a professional by the Professional Golfers' Association of America, entered the 1965 Open Championship after telling the R&A that he was a pro and set a two-round score of 221 during qualifying. He entered as Gerald Hoppy and made it into a qualifying round in 1984, dressed up as a suave Swiss and sporting a moustache. He had told his bosses he was ill, so it came as a great surprise to them to see photos of him strolling along behind Seve Ballesteros at the Open after failing to qualify. His mother had been also dragged into proceedings when the press sought her out to ask if she felt the Open had been a step too far too soon for her son. (Wonder if the scorecard still exists?). [8] It seems that none of the professionals noticed that his gear comprised only a red imitation-leather bag and half a set of mail-order clubs. He was a dreamer to the core. So for them to ask him to retire was out of the question. There was a notice warning of vehicles on the adjacent country road and, by the time Gene had finished drawing our attention to it, there was no question as to where Flitcroft Sr. would hit. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. Maurice also tried to disguise his now famous face. Roberts finds humour in golfs topsy-turvy rules: the higher the score, the worse the game. I like true stories and I liked his character, especially the Don Quixote aspects of him. Maurice Flitcroft (Mark Rylance) crashes British golf tournaments in The Phantom of the Open. In the 1976 British Open, Maurice Flitcroft, a crane operator turned aspiring golfer, shot the worst qualifying round in the tournament's history. On each occasion he was chased from the course by a referee. After he and his wife Jean decided to put him down as a "professional" on the tournament application, through and administrative error, his dream came true and he played in one of the world's greatest golf championships. Far fetched? Farnaby wrote the screenplay. Rylance and Hawkins are magnificent. They were an old-fashioned couple, James says: They supported each other in every endeavour. I have no chance of qualifying, Flitcroft said. But his son James, 59, tells The Sun that Maurice was not one to throw in the towel, saying: One of his problems was that he wouldnt give up. Some faults had crept into my swing. Maurice Gerald Flitcroft was a British golfer and audacious Your email address will not be published. Its a heartwarming confection about Flitcrofts experiences flummoxing the poobahs at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, called the Royal and Ancient Golf Society in the film. Maurice Flitcroft, played by Mark Rylance in The Phantom of The Open, drew a band of supporters. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window). Maurice Flitcroft, a crane operator from Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, had never played a round of golf in his life. Ive probably played less than 10 times on the golf course, so I had to book some lessons with a pro to become the worst golfer in the world. [The Upcoming]Maurice Flitcroft: a dreamer, unrelenting optimist and against all the odds a total golfing legend! Get the latest from WBGO right to your inbox: music, articles, events, discounts and more. Learn how and when to remove this template message, 1974 Piccadilly World Match Play Championship, Professional Golfers' Association of America, "The 'Phantom of the Open' who tricked his way into golf's elite", "Flitcroft runs out of steam and names in his long-running tilt at windmill", "Maurice Flitcroft: Audacious amateur golfer who conned his way into the Open", "The world's worst golfer, coming to cinemas", "The Joy of Six: Open nightmares, From Walter Danecki to Ian Woosnams 15 clubs, via the travails of Ian Baker-Finch, here are half a dozen Open lows, by Scott Murray, 15 Jul 2011, The Guardian, "Maurice Flitcroft: The world's worst golfer", "Sony Pictures Classics Acquires Mark Rylance & Sally Hawkins Movie 'The Phantom of the Open', "Front Row: The Arts in Aberystwyth, The Boy with Two Hearts in Cardiff and Welsh film director Craig Roberts", Obituary, "The Great Pretender: Recalling Open Championship gatecrasher Maurice Flitcroft," by Dave Kindred, GolfDigest, June 25, 2007, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maurice_Flitcroft&oldid=1139154906, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia articles needing copy edit from January 2023, Articles needing additional references from January 2023, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 13 February 2023, at 17:28. He entered as Gerald Hoppy and made it into a qualifying round in 1984, dressed up as a When we got him, Craig, the director, texted in me and said we've got the best actor in the world. With Flitcroft seemingly unaware how many shots and penalty shots he had amassed, I made the silent assumption that I was two up. He didnt play the second round. "My dad was a greenskeeper at Ganton Golf Club (Scarborough, UK) northeast of England, which is quite a prestigious golf club but I don't know what it's like in the (United) States but greenskeepers are sort of seen as the lower echelons. Mark Rylance plays Maurice Flitcroft in The Phantom of The Open. I often dream of having been an actor on stage and not knowing my lines and that's the equivalent of what Maurice was doing. The Phantom Of The Open (12A) is in cinemas from Friday. He's portrayed with a casual brilliance by the consummate thespian, Mark Rylance. If it doesn't win Sports Book of the Year then life is more crooked than one of Maurice Flitcroft's drives\"--Dan Davies, Esquire Based on the biography from Simon Farnaby, The Phantom of the Open tells the hilarious and truly heartwarming story of a kind man brimming with optimism. Maurice Flitcroft, who died in 2007, came from the England port town of Barrow-in-Furness, decided he would try to take a shot at the British open after watching the sport on television. By 1992, Maurice had developed a hip problem which finally convinced him to pack away his golf clubs. A smitten Maurice proposes marriage. He entered as a professional, which he decidedly was not. [4] At other times he worked as a shoe polish salesman and an ice cream man. All registered in England and Wales. He quickly arouses the ire of tournament officials but becomes a hero to the common man. 845898). He even meets a charismatic young Spanish pro by name of Seve Ballesteros. It's what the current parlance might call shudder 'nicecore'. Simon Farnaby and Scott Murray wrote a book called The Phantom of the Open, which was published in 2010. I never actually played a full 18-hole round. He kind of sees himself in Maurice Flitcroft. Things were going a bit sideways for him, and he needed an adventure. Jean refuses to let anyone, including their children, belittle Maurice or his dream of being a golfer. They congratulated him on his one par but, at the close of the day, they made plain that their own golf had suffered. Book tickets here. His wife Jean noticed this and so informed him. hipyard crane operator Maurice Flitcroft (. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. You can SEE the entire SportsJam interview with Simon Farnaby here. If a spectral Englishman could appear on Soul Train and a Southern peanut farmer could win the 39th presidency, then why couldn't a middle-aged crane driver from Barrow-in-Furness pass himself off as a professional golfer and compete in the British Open, despite having zero experience and even less talent? Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Isobel Waller-Bridges fizzy, hopeful score bolsters the optimistic mood. Happy Gilmore, Caddyshack, Tin Cup, stand aside and give Maurice Flitcroft a chance\"--The Observer \"The tale's essential warmth and heart make it well worth the read. After he shot 121 the R&A was aghast that someone could beat the system.. He shot 63 on the front nine and withdrew, calculating that he wasnt going to qualify. He has been a journalist for more than 10 years and was shortlisted for Bauer Media Journalist of the Year in 2019. Michael Catling is the Features Editor ofTodays Golfer. Though this, I promise, is not a blow-by-blow account of our 18 holes, the fourth hole has to be worth a mention. 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The titan of theater, film, and television gives Maurice a tough backbone with a caring soul. After posing as a professional player to enter an elite qualifying competition for the British Open of 1976, Maurice lined up his first drive and took a clumsy swing at British Airways sprung for tickets for the family. Farnaby says Flitcroft's journey is amazing considering where he came from. Like that film, he has a light comedic touch and feel for the milieu he's sketching, giving us a mid-70s that feels authentically uncool: three TV channels; ABBA and Leo Sayer on the soundtrack; white people in overalls dancing to disco at dinky community halls a world where nothing, and thus everything, seems possible. In 1988, Flitcroft himself was flown to Blythefield to play in the event. His tribute to her in the third act left me in tears. AS unknown golfer Maurice Flitcroft teed up his ball to take a tilt at the sports most eminent tournament, something was clearly amiss. Academy Award-nominee Sally Hawkins plays Maurice's supportive wife Jean. That he had lost every hole in our game never got a mention, either from me or from him. Sally Hawkins amazes as the ultimate partner in life. His deception (and ineptitude) were uncovered when he managed to card a 49-over-par 121the worst score in the tournament's history;[10] some of the other professionals playing with him were so angry that they successfully demanded a refund of their entry fees. James insists he reached the standard of a decent club player and certainly was NOT the worlds worst. The R&A did not screen applications from pros, Lorna said. An open championship should be open to everyone, says Flitcroft, who has his eyes on the competitions 10,000 prize. Though he had still to play on a course, he wrote to Peter Alliss to request an entry form and, with no reply forthcoming, he tried the R&A who dispatched one by the next post. A new television set with a remote control changes his fate. Even though Maurice talked golf all the time, he never had complaints from wife Jean, played by Paddington actress Sally Hawkins in the movie. There was no mention of his playing in the Ryder Cup, but he hoped to have a series of lessons and get himself a handicap in the process. Glory days. It was a pity they missed the par-four second. 8 min read Watch: Trailer for The Phantom of the Open Golf course chancer Maurice Flitcroft became notorious in the 1970s after he As it happens, my wife Nell is from Grand Rapids. Son James says: My mum dyed his moustache and hair. "I think Steven Spielberg said Mark Rylance is the best actor in the world. A challenge to the elitism of the sport: Mark Rylance as Maurice Flitcroft in The Phantom of the Open. Mark said I've never been offered a comedy before, so we thought 'Oh God', but of course he's brilliant. Clips of Flitcrofts media appearances are shown towards the end to demonstrate that the The mid-70s were weird. In the circumstances, this fathers opening shot was a lot better than anticipated high and right but on the fairway. Flitcroft sent in his entry form for the 1977 championship; the R&A rejected it. Arnold Palmtree, Count Manfred von Hoffmenstal and James Beau Jolley were other aliases Flitcroft used to try to dupe the R&A. Maurice Flitcroft genuinely believed he could win the Claret Jug. It was the same with golf clubs. Buy it, folks. Maurice's efforts to learn golf are knockdown funny. Maurice is mesmerized watching an unfamiliar sport. In 2017 comedian and writer Simon Farnaby, who co-wrote a biography of Flitcroft, stated that he was writing a film script based on the book. The film is called The Phantom of the Open. It will open in Canada and the U.S. in June. This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced. 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