Guess the Golfing Celebrity

I read somewhere that wherever you are, there is always a spider within 8 feet of you (or something like that), which creeps me out to no end. Living in Southern California often means there is a celebrity somewhere near as well. Maybe not 8 feet, but they are somewhat ubiquitous. Many celebrities aren’t nearly as creepy as spiders – with some obvious exceptions – so that doesn’t bother me as much as the spider factoid.

People like to play golf and celebrities are people, too. It’s not uncommon to run into a celebrity from time to time on any given golf course out here. Many celebrities have the financial means to stay on the private or more expensive resort courses but – perhaps surprisingly – they also show up on some beat up munis. Maybe because they just want to work on their games and have some casual fun like the “regular people,” maybe it’s like going to a mall to get recognized, or maybe they think they’re obscure enough to not be recognized. But they can’t avoid the trivia nerd golfers, as one celebrity recently discovered. Normally, I think I’m better than average at spotting them, and I usually just congratulate myself internally for my powers of recognition and move on. They never even know they’ve been made.

Recently (but before Vito – BG) I played a round at Los Robles Greens, which is a city course in Thousand Oaks, CA. It’s a relatively short par 70 course, but not an executive track. It’s always very busy and the grounds definitely show the signs of all that wear and tear. But it’s a fun little course that I like to play from time to time. Apparently, so does this guy:

Do you recognize him? Would you be able to name him?

Admittedly, it took me awhile. He was playing in the group behind us and I wouldn’t even have looked at him long enough to realize who he was if he wasn’t trying to engage our group in conversation when we were waiting on the tees together. But since he did, it was that interaction that caught my eye. Or rather, my ear. It was his voice that gave him away. But as we drove off in our cart after I had that realization, I struggled with putting a name to the voice and the face. Trivia geek that I am, it bothered me that I didn’t know it. It actually probably took a few strokes off my game as I stopped thinking so much about my swing problems, but I was determined to come up with the answer.

I kept thinking of that voice, and trying to put him in a role that would be my big clue. Was he a TV personality? Film star? Seemed like both. Then it hit me. I came up with a movie he’d been in and had it. It’s a “classic” comedy with many memorable quotes and characters. So I had his character name. That led to remembering his last name, and for the next few holes I agonized over coming up with his first name. I thought I had it but didn’t feel confident. At the last par 3, there was another backup on the tees and they were waiting there with us and watching as we teed off. My tee shot actually hit a power line running above but still managed to land on the fringe of the green. It was a good, solid shot and felt great, but the rest of my group was telling me I could hit another one for free because of the obstruction. Oddly, I felt I could duplicate the swing and wanted to give it another try even though it was risky with the trees surrounding the hole. But I went for it, it hit the green and rolled within 10 feet of the pin. Mr. Mystery Celebrity said to me: you missed the power line that time. I replied “that’s because I was aiming at it” and we were off. For the last two holes, my playing partner and I had fun recalling some classic quotes from the movie and wishing he would have used one on us.

Out in the parking lot, he ended up being parked quite close to me, and just as I was about to leave I noticed him loading up his clubs. I grabbed my camera and went over to talk to him. He was very nice and even offered to wait for his buddy to come back so we could get a photo together but I didn’t want to put him out. He confirmed his identity, cleared up the first name problem, and offered me a hug. I accepted, snapped this picture and called it a round.

So, can you name him? (The answer’s in the comments.)

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