Wait, Happy Gilmore 2’s Crazy Golf Challenges Weren’t All CGI?

ATTENTION: The information below may reveal some details about the ending of the Happy Gilmore 2, which was released in 2025. So, if you haven’t had a chance to watch it yet, consider heading home and streaming the movie before continuing here… or, at least, exercise caution as you read on.

I found myself pleasantly surprised by my appreciation for “Happy Gilmore 2“, yet it didn’t come as a shock to me that critics were divided about Adam Sandler’s sequel. In reality, I’ve noticed quite a bit of criticism pointing out that the movie’s final part, where the main character, Happy Gilmore, faces some unusually complex golfing challenges at the tee time, seems more like it was conceived by an AI rather than just the script itself.

It turns out that I found those scenes in Happy Gilmore 2 quite entertaining, and my appreciation for them has grown even more since learning they were mostly filmed in real life. Indeed, the creators of this movie, now streaming with a Netflix subscription, went to great lengths to bring their outlandish concepts to life on set. Here’s how they managed it.

Happy Gilmore 2’s Maxi Golf Sequences Were Shot On Real Courses

It’s plausible that fans of Happy Gilmore 2, including our very own Corey Chichizola (you can read his review here), might have thought that the over-the-top challenges experienced by Adam Sandler’s character in the Maxi Golf League tournament were digitally created. But what makes it more surprising and fulfilling is that these scenes were actually filmed using real, full-size sets.

As reported by Golf Digest, the esteemed golf course renovation company LaBar Renovations was tasked with assisting a film crew in building the unusual sets required on various New Jersey golf courses. Occasionally, they had only a day or two’s notice to complete the construction. To ensure that regular golfers could use the modified holes as soon as possible after the filming, LaBar even had to rebuild them promptly.

Even The Rotating Golf Green Was Real

In the movie “Happy Gilmore 2”, the majority of the Maxi Golf scenes were filmed at Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club. Notably, one of the most outlandish challenges in the tournament took place on the final hole, where the green started rotating as Happy and his caddy, Oscar (played by Benito “Bad Bunny” Ocasio), set foot on it. Yes, that spinning green was not a special effect!

For this crucial scene, LaBar took several weeks instead of the quick few days often seen among other sets, meticulously designing and constructing the set. This was accomplished by setting up hydraulics beneath the ground, enabling the crew to manage the green’s rotation. Interestingly, Golf Digest noted that the deep sand bunkers adjacent to the rotating green in the film were accurately built nearby as well.

As a passionate cinephile, I get why some viewers found “Happy Gilmore 2” a tad overwhelming with its numerous callbacks and cameos, or perhaps puzzling due to Allen Covert’s character, Otto’s unexpected absence from the original plotline. Yet, I hope that learning about the practical effects employed in creating this film might help even the skeptics appreciate this hilarious comedy just a bit more.

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2025-08-05 01:04