Maurice Flitcroft, a dreamer, and unrelenting optimist, manages to gain entry to the 1976 British Open Golf Championship qualification round despite being a complete novice.
Sometimes, you hear about true stories of heartbreak and resilience that amaze you and move you to tears; “Schindler’s List,” “The Pursuit Of Happyness,” “12 Years A Slave,” and “The Theory of Everything,” to name but a few. But sometimes, a story comes along that inspires you to want to follow your dreams and goals, no matter how outlandish they might seem.
“The Phantom of the Open” is based on the true story of Maurice Flitcroft (Mark Rylance), a crane operator from the city of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, England, who entered the 1976 British Open Golf Championship qualification round by stating on the entry form he was a professional. The powers-that-be had no reason to question him because, in their eyes, who would be stupid enough to claim to be a professional when they were not?
When he married the love of his life, Jean (Sally Hawkins), in 1963, he gave up any dreams he had to take care of her and her young son Michael from a previous relationship. They would go on to have two sons of their own, and once the boys were old enough, Jean told him that he had taken good care of them and now he could chase after any dream he wanted to. Golf was something that intrigued him, so he blindly decided to enter the 1976 British Open Golf Championship. And got in.
You don’t have to have a great understanding of Golf because the movie explains everything to you as the story progresses, but with little to no professional training, his final score was 121, the worst score in the tournament’s history. The goal of Golf is to play as few strokes per round as possible, so it was no surprise when Flitcroft was dubbed “the world’s worst golfer.” When it was discovered that he lied to gain entry into the championship, he was given a lifetime ban from all their competitions.
Undeterred, Maurice gatecrashed the championship and several other golf competitions at least six more times, using pseudonyms like Gene Paycheki, Gerald Hoppy, James Beau Jolley, and some outrageous names such as Arnold Palmtree and Count Manfred von Hoffmanstel. He also utilized fake mustaches, dark glasses, and a various assortment of hats, to disguise his real identity. While he never got past the qualifying round, he became a folk hero to regular people worldwide who admired his tenacity and never-say-die attitude, despite being a terrible golfer.
“The Phantom of the Open” paints Flitcroft as a dreamer who never gave up on what he wanted to achieve. He desired fame and fortune but only attained one of them, and in the end, he was okay with that. In his own words, if his playing was enough to inspire just one person, then he was happy with that. In 1978, an American golfer named Terry Moore started the Maurice Gerald Flitcroft Member-Guest Tournament in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and awarded prizes to golfers who attained the highest scores instead of the lowest. In 1988, Maurice and his family were flown out to Michigan and participated in the tournament.
Flitcroft once quoted, “Practice is the road to perfection,” but no matter how often he trained, his score never improved. “The Phantom of the Open” is a welcome treat during these tumultuous times, it reiterates the importance of having dreams, and even if you give up on them because life gets in the way, it is never too late to pursue them down the road. Most people use their age as an excuse to stop chasing their dreams when their own personal fear of failing is what really hinders them. After all, if you don’t try, you’ll never fail. Or succeed.
Now available on Digital HD and on Blu-ray™ and DVD August 30th
