His name is Landon James Gilmore. But given that he has been swinging a golf club since he was 2 and is gonzo mad about the sport, he doesn’t answer to Landon.
Owing to the 1996 comedy Adam Sandler made famous, he goes by Happy.
Happy Gilmore.
That was the name he listed for the IMG Junior World Championship, which the 17-year-old from Bloomfield, Ind., is playing this week at Torrey Pines South.
“Happy, that’s what everybody calls me,” said Gilmore. “Teachers, friends, about everybody.”
Said the golfer’s father, Terry Gilmore: “Nobody knows his real name.”
Gilmore has leaned hard into the nickname. He’s seen the movie more than 100 times and owns a Boston Bruins jersey like the one Sandler wore in the comedy, complete with the name “Gilmore” stitched across the back.
He rips off lines from the movie.
A heckler to Sandler when he dumps one in the trap. “You’re gonna need a blanket and suntan lotion.”
Bob Barker after Sandler dumps one in the water. “This guy sucks!”
A hockey coach to Sandler when doesn’t make the team.
“Better luck next year!”
One big difference between Happy Gilmore, the teenage golfer, and Sandler’s character: the kid can legitimately play. Playing Torrey South for the first time on his first trip to California, he shot a respectable 75-75 the first two rounds of the Junior Worlds.
Gilmore qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur, which will be played July 24-29 in Charleston S.C. His career low is a 63 and he has verbally committed to play collegiately at Ball State.
“He’s very well-rounded. He doesn’t have any weaknesses,” said Gilmore’s coach, Craig Bowden. “I’m not going to say he’s a prodigy. He’s 17 years old. He’s got a good game.
“I don’t know if he’s going to be good enough for the Korn Ferry Tour or the PGA Tour. He’s not that dominant, yet. But we’re working, we’re doing a lot of things heading in that direction.”
Terry Gilmore was once a scratch golfer and he re taking Happy to the range when he was 2.
“I threw a ball down, told him to just hit it,” said Terry. “He turned, swung and just clobbered it. I looked at my friend, whose eyes were real big. I said, ‘Did I see right?’ I threw another ball down and (his swing) was just perfect. Holy cow.”
Happy began playing tournaments at 6 and by his father’s memory, first beat him when he was 12.
“Dad wasn’t the smartest player in the world,” teases Happy. “He was a grip-it-and-rip-it, John-Daly type.”
Gilmore touched down in San Diego last weekend and has fallen hard for Torrey Pines. Seated in a golf cart behind the South No. 1 tee, Gilmore gazed west beyond the course, casting his eyes on the sun settling amidst the marine layer.
“I told my mom when we got here, ‘Yeah, this is a lot prettier.’ All we’ve got is corn,” he said.
On Sunday night, Gilmore watched video of Max Homa’s final round when Homa won the Farmers Insurance Open in January. “He hit a lot of fairways. I found that out,” he said.
He watched Tiger Woods’ highlights from Torrey.
“I realized he makes every putt he looks at,” said Gilmore. “I didn’t gain much watching Tiger play because he hit it past everyone.”
At 6 feet, Gilmore weighs a rail-thin 145 pounds. His slight physique isn’t for lack of eating. He said he once downed 10 McDonald’s hamburgers and seven plates of food at a Golden Corral buffet.
“He eats!” said his mother, Kim Ellett.
“I just don’t gain any weight,” Happy said.
As for his son answering to Happy and not Landon, Terry Gilmore loves it.
“He holds it well,” said Terry. “Everyone loves it. His friends, his opponents. It has absolutely grown into something iconic.”
