The Legend of Bagger Vance

A little bit of magic time.

I feel it.

Yes, sir.

Terrific shot! I'm in the goddamn woods again.

Goddamn it.

Damn game.

Damn it.

I spend more time in the trees than the squirrels.

Wizard Two? Why not?

Not again.

I've had five heart attacks in the last 10 years.

My first was on a golf course in South Carolina.

It wasn't that bad. A couple of doglegs that were more dog than leg.

All in all, it was playable.

Assuming you didn't die on the second hole.

The second coronary was at Augusta, where they had the Masters.

Went down on the first fairway.

Good thing too, because those greens would have been the end of me anyway.

My wife used to ask me before she passed on:

Why do I play a game that seems destined to kill me?

It all started back in 1928...

... when I was just a youngster in Savannah, Georgia.

Jones and Hagen are really at it. Neck and neck.

- Nuts! - Remember that drive he hit?

- Was it 350? - More like 400 with the roll.

I don't care how good they are.

Junuh could beat them with his eyes closed.

He won three times in a row.

When I was growing up, every town had its heroes.

Ours was Rannulph Junuh.

An athlete who was a born winner.

How I wanted to be just like him.

Junuh has the most difficult shot in the history of golf.

He must sink this shot from 110 yards to win the championship.

He steps up to the ball.

The crowd is hushed in anticipation.

Can he make this miracle shot?

And he swings!

Fore! Watch your heads!

- Where did that come from? - I don't know!

There he is!

I'd never seen him play since it was before I was born...

... but it was said Junuh was on track to being the greatest golfer ever.

"Titanic off the tee." "Approach shots which fell to earth. "

As Sam Snead once put it, "Like a butterfly with sore feet."

He won just about everything.

But even he would say his most significant victory...

... was winning the heart of Adele Invergordon.

Daughter of the wealthiest man in Savannah.

But fate plays funny tricks.

It was a patriotic call to arms...

... to fight the war to end all wars.

Junuh and everyone in town believed it was his destiny...

... to lead the young men of Savannah into battle.

It was to be his crowning glory.

But nothing could have prepared him or anyone...

... for the shock and sorrow of what was to come.

- Positions. - Ready, captain.

- Get ready. Positions. - Ready, sir.

Prepare to advance.

Sergeant...

- Advance! - Advance!

Confused, broken...

... and unable to face a return to a hero's welcome...

... Junuh just disappeared.

Hoping to forget...

... and to be forgotten.

But Adele, being a woman of the South, had survived worse than desertion.

And she moved on with her life, dedicating herself to her father's dream.

What we have here is the most magnificent golf resort on God's earth...

...and I'm building it here in Savannah.

Krewe Island. Legacy to my sweet Adele.

And we'd like to use all of you as our main suppliers.

Thank you, that's quite an honor.

I wouldn't dream of anything but.

People don't obey, we'll repeal.

We can't repeal the Commandments, they don't obey that.

Yet no law on the statute book--

I was 10 years old when Junuh came home.

Stop!

Less than a year later, the Great Depression hit Savannah.

Jobs were lost. Stores and banks were shut for good.

And John Invergordon, having spent his last dime on his great dream...

... opened Krewe Island on what should have been a glorious spring day.

It might not have been a shot heard around the world...

Oh, Daddy.

... but it reached every corner of Savannah.

Amen.

I'll be putting some doors and closets in the parlor.

With any luck, we can have boarders within a few weeks.

Hardy, can you share your room with Cara Mae?

What about the store?

Oh, Jesus.

I've died and gone to hell.

It's not as if you have a choice. Your golf resort is dead and gone.

You've got no gumption, Neskaloosa.

My gumption is not the subject.

Then what is the subject?

If it's your offer to take it for one-tenth of what my father spent--

You're lucky to get a dime on the dollar.

Just so you can turn around and resell it...

...to some Carolina paper mill for a tidy profit?

That you've likely made the deal already is not my problem.

We should come back when the shock of your father's passing isn't so--

God.

Don't bother. I'm not selling.

You got a stack of debts that would fill the Cotton Exchange.

And I intend to pay them off... in time.

With what? Ball tokens?

With the money people will spend once they know it's the premier resort.

Did I miss something? Or are we not in the midst of a Great Depression?

People still have money and I'll make sure they know--

How exactly do you intend to accomplish that?

How?

- Well, how? - How?

I'll tell you how.

I'll have the greatest exhibition match ever held...

...on the greatest golf course ever built.

- Bobby Jones... - Bobby Jones?

- ...will be playing Walter Hagen... - Walter Hagen?

...for $ 10,000.

- What? - $ 10,000? You can't be serious.

$ 10,000 for one weekend?

I'd make it more, gentlemen...

...but that's about all I believe I can raise...

...if I sell everything I own on this earth.

Except Krewe Island.

Jones and Hagen are coming to Krewe Island?

To play an exhibition match for 10 grand?

That's correct.

They don't know it yet, but that's what they'll be doing.

Are you off your rocker?

Nobody has the right to call Krewe Island "Invergordon's Folly."

Nobody. Good day, gentlemen.

Adele!

Nobody holds your father responsible for this depression!

You're a damn fool!

Save your breath, judge. She'll sell.

You really think Jones and Hagen...

...will come to Krewe Island just because she wants them to?

All four golf championships in a single year.

The Grand Slam. Simply amazing.

I don't believe that's been done in the history of golf.

No, it--

It takes my breath away.

You don't impress me as someone who loses her breath.

Did you know that reprobate, Mr. Walter Hagen...

...who I hear spends every minute chasing after women...

...has been approached to play in the $10,000 Krewe Island exhibition match?

No, I didn't.

But how is this an urgent matter for the American Red Cross?

- Did I say that? - At the front door.

May I speak candidly, Mr. Jones?

I wish you would.

I've come here to see you because...

...to the South, you're a hero.

They see you as a young god.

Brave, valiant...

...glorious.

One of the greatest golfers in the world today.

I would say "the greatest golfer" ...

...were it not for that incident last year...

...when Mr. Hagen whupped you by 12 strokes on your very own course.

You say he's been invited to play at Krewe Island?

She has a remarkable talent, Mr. Hagen.

I hit the ball.

I wonder if you might excuse us for a minute, Anna Mae?

I won't be long.

A charming woman. Although, she gave me quite a fright.

With so much weight in front, I swore she'd topple over...

...before she ever got to her knees.

I do admire a man with your...

...vitality.

The South is in such an unfortunate place these days...

...and Savannah most of all.

Memories of our defeat in the war between the States still linger...

...and with them, the defeated men who returned...

...lacking that vigor we women associate with your gender.

Now, sadly, here is Savannah, teeming with the most attractive young women...

...and nobody, absolutely nobody, to satisfy them.

Except for Bobby Jones, who will be playing in our Krewe Island tournament.

He says, "It don't matter what it is, it won't hurt you.

You just pop one in your mouth and you chew."

I'm pleased to announce Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen...

...have accepted my golfing invitation...

...with enthusiasm.

First, of course...

...Miss Adele Invergordon's commitment to her father's dream.

Not one to concede defeat easily...

... Neskaloosa engineered an uprising against the tournament.

You boys think I've been drinking too much blackjack tea...

...but they'll be parking in our streets...

...and taxing the limits of our constabulary--

Do you think one of them damn rich Yankees...

...gives a hoot about Savannah or anybody in it?

Now, now.

Now, we need the Yankees...

...but we also need someone from Savannah in the match.

One of us giving them...

...a run for their money. Then they'll know what we're made of.