History Trivia / HappyGilmore

** When the director told Bob Barker that a stunt double would be used for the fight, Barker insisted on doing the scene himself, saying "Wait a minute; I know how to fight." Barker is friends with and was trained by Creator/ChuckNorris.

* BeamMeUpScotty: Some people, particularly ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'' fans, think Bob Barker says "The price is wrong, bitch!", even though it was Happy when he thinks he's beaten Bob in his brawl. After the fight, Bob says "Now you've had enough... bitch."

* TropeNamer: HappyPlace.

* AwesomeDearBoy: Bob Barker wasn't interested in the extended cameo until he was informed he would win the fight against Happy (he was actually friends with and trained by Creator/ChuckNorris).
** When the director told Bob Barker that a stunt double would be used for the fight, Barker insisted on doing the scene himself, saying "Wait a minute; I know how to fight."

* OldShame: Lee Trevino said that had he read the script and seen the salty language, he would've passed. One would presume he did his signature disbelieving head shake while watching the film.
* TalkingToHimself: Creator/AdamSandler secretly provided the vocal effects for the clown at the mini-golf scene.

** In the film, the Tour Championship is seen as the pro golf tour's most prestigious event, and seems to be a major championship. But when ''Happy Gilmore'' came out in 1996, the PGA Tour's Tour Championship was nothing more than the tour's season finale in November. Yes, a player had to be in the Top 30 on the Tour's Money List following the event the week before, but that was it. This, despite the fact that, for most of its first decade of existence, the tournament offered the PGA Tour's highest first place check, worth even more than the four majors[[note]]The Masters, US Open, Open Championship (or British Open), and PGA Championship[[/note]], and the Tour's signature event, The Players Championship[[note]]The Tour does not run the majors; it merely sanctions them[[/note]]. Eventually, late in the 1990s, both the Tour and Players Championships were offering the same amount of money for winning ($900,000) only for the PGA Tours around the world to get together and create the World Golf Championships, whose three events would each offer a $1 million check to their respective winner, the first $1 million checks in golf's history. It wasn't until the emergence of Tiger Woods and the popularity that came with him that purses went up in every event, and finally, in 2001, The Masters would become the first major to award a seven-figure check to its winner (Woods, in this case). But the Tour still wanted the Tour Championship to mean something. In 2005, the PGA Tour signed new television deals with Golf Channel, NBC, and CBS, and decided to create a way for the Tour Championship to become more than just the season finale. The [=FedEx=] Cup was born, and was first awarded in 2007. From the opening event in Hawaii in January, to the Tour Championship, now moved up to September to avoid competing against the NFL, players would compete in a regular season, followed by a four-event playoff series, culminating at the Tour Championship, where the player who had the most points at the event of the playoffs would win the [=FedEx=] Cup and a $10 million prize. A player did not have to win the Tour Championship to win the [=FedEx=] Cup. This was based on NASCAR's Chase for the Cup, created in 2004, and was just as divisive. At the end of the regular season, the Top 144 in the [=FedEx=] Cup points standings would move onto the playoffs, with the points being reset before the first event. The Top 100 would move on to event two, the Top 70 on to event three, and then the Top 30 on to the Tour Championship. Much tinkering went on with the format in its early years, and in 2008, Vijay Singh had enough points to win the [=FedEx=] Cup before the Tour Championship, needing to finish merely finish the event, which wasn't ideal for trying to draw viewers. For 2009, the Top 125 qualified for the playoffs, and points would be reset for the Tour Championship, giving all 30 participants a chance to win. Beginning with the 2018-19 season[[note]]The Tour's schedule got so cramped, it now goes from the fall of one calendar year to the late summer of the next[[/note]], the number of playoff events was cut down to three, and whoever wins the Tour Championship wins the [=FedEx=] Cup, as each competitor starts the event with a predetermined amount of strokes (the [=FedEx=] Cup points leader starts the tournament at 10-under, second place at 8-under, third at 7-under, right down to the players in positions 26 to 30, who start the tournament at even par). The award for winning the [=FedEx=] Cup was also increased to $15 million. Because of this change, the Tour Championship no longer offers its own purse, though it still awards a sterling silver replica of legendary golfer Bobby Jones's putter Calamity Jane to its winner, as has been the case since 2005.

* LifeImitatesArt: There are a number of aspects to Happy's character that seem eerily prescient of Tiger Woods, who turned pro several months after the movie was released. First and most obviously, there is the emergence of a new and apparent "outsider" to the sport of golf which causes viewership to skyrocket: although Woods was nowhere near the outsider that Happy was (having practiced and competed in the sport for years before turning pro), he was undeniably unlike any other golfer that had come before him, and caused non-golf-fans to tune in regularly to watch him. Second, there is Happy's skill at the long drive, which Tiger did so well in his early career that courses actually started to add yardage to their holes in an attempt to "Tiger-proof" them (although Woods' game was always far more balanced than Happy's). Third, there are Happy's bouts of rage and cursing fits, which Tiger has been known to break into from time to time (another aspect of him that brought in viewers), though again, never to the extent that Happy did.

* CastTheExpert: Creator/ChristopherMcDonald was cast in part because he was an avid golfer in real life and could actually hit the shots required by the script himself. Creator/DennisDugan leaned into this by using wide-angle shots whenever he could to show off [=McDonald=] hitting shots for real, including Shooter's climactic 30-foot putt. Dugan gave [=McDonald=] seven tries to sink it on camera before he would use editing to stitch it together; [=McDonald=] did it in five.
** Averted with Adam Sandler. In real life, he is terrible at both hockey and golf.
* TheCastShowoff: Carl Weathers got to show off his singing chops.

* CreatorsFavoriteEpisode: This is Creator/AdamSandler's favourite movie of his own.
* CreatorsFavorite: Creator/AdamSandler named Happy Gilmore as his favourite role.
* {{Defictionalization}}: The NHL Shop sold hockey stick putters for many years.

** Creator/BruceCampbell was almost Shooter [=McGavin=].

** In the film, the Tour Championship is seen as the pro golf tour's most prestigious event, and seems to be a major championship. But when ''Happy Gilmore'' came out in 1996, the PGA Tour's Tour Championship was nothing more than the tour's season finale in November. Yes, a player had to be in the Top 30 on the Tour's Money List following the event the week before, but that was it. This, despite the fact that, for most of its first decade of existence, the tournament offered the PGA Tour's highest first place check, worth even more than the four majors[[note]]The Masters, US Open, Open Championship (or British Open), and PGA Championship[[/note]], and the Tour's signature event, The Players Championship[[note]]The Tour does not run the majors; it merely sanctions them[[/note]]. Eventually, late in the 1990s, both the Tour and Players Championships were offering the same amount of money for winning ($900,000) only for the PGA Tours around the world to get together and create the World Golf Championships, whose three events would each offer a $1 million check to their respective winner, the first $1 million checks in golf's history. It wasn't until the emergence of Tiger Woods and the popularity that came with him that purses went up in every event, and finally, in 2001, The Masters would become the first major to award a seven-figure check to its winner (Woods, in this case). But the Tour still wanted the Tour Championship to mean something. In 2005, the PGA Tour signed new television deals with Golf Channel, NBC, and CBS, and decided to create a way for the Tour Championship to become more than just the season finale. The [=FedEx=] Cup was born. From the opening event in Hawaii in January, to the Tour Championship, now moved up to September to avoid competing against the NFL, players would compete in a regular season, followed by a four-event playoff series, culminating at the Tour Championship, where the player who had the most points at the event of the playoffs would win the [=FedEx=] Cup and a $10 million prize. A player did not have to win the Tour Championship to win the [=FedEx=] Cup. This was based on NASCAR's Chase for the Cup, created in 2004, and was just as divisive. At the end of the regular season, the Top 144 in the [=FedEx=] Cup points standings would move onto the playoffs, with the points being reset before the first event. The Top 100 would move on to event two, the Top 70 on to event three, and then the Top 30 on to the Tour Championship. Much tinkering went on with the format in its early years, and in 2008, Vijay Singh had enough points to win the [=FedEx=] Cup before the Tour Championship, needing to finish merely finish the event, which wasn't ideal for trying to draw viewers. For 2009, the Top 125 qualified for the playoffs, and points would be reset for the Tour Championship, giving all 30 participants a chance to win. Beginning with the 2018-19 season[[note]]The Tour's schedule got so cramped, it now goes from the fall of one calendar year to the late summer of the next[[/note]], the number of playoff events was cut down to three, and whoever wins the Tour Championship wins the [=FedEx=] Cup, as each competitor starts the event with a predetermined amount of strokes (the [=FedEx=] Cup points leader starts the tournament at 10-under, second place at 8-under, third at 7-under, right down to the players in positions 26 to 30, who start the tournament at even par). The award for winning the [=FedEx=] Cup was also increased to $15 million. Because of this change, the Tour Championship no longer offers its own purse, though it still awards a sterling silver replica of legendary golfer Bobby Jones's putter Calamity Jane to its winner, as has been the case since 2005.

** In the film, the Tour Championship is seen as the pro golf tour's most prestigious event, and seems to be a major championship. But when ''Happy Gilmore'' came out in 1996, the PGA Tour's Tour Championship was nothing more than the tour's season finale in November. Yes, a player had to be in the Top 30 on the Tour's Money List following the event the week before, but that was it. This, despite the face that, for most of its first decade of existence, the tournament offered the PGA Tour's highest first place check, worth even more than the four majors[[note]]The Masters, US Open, Open Championship (or British Open), and PGA Championship[[/note]], and the Tour's signature event, The Players Championship[[note]]The Tour does not run the majors; it merely sanctions them[[/note]]. Eventually, late in the 1990s, both the Tour and Players Championships were offering the same amount of money for winning ($900,000) only for the PGA Tours around the world to get together and create the World Golf Championships, whose three events would each offer a $1 million check to their respective winner, the first $1 million checks in golf's history. It wasn't until the emergence of Tiger Woods and the popularity that came with him that purses went up in every event, and finally, in 2001, The Masters would become the first major to award a seven-figure check to its winner (Woods, in this case). But the Tour still wanted the Tour Championship to mean something. In 2005, the PGA Tour signed new television deals with Golf Channel, NBC, and CBS, and decided to create a way for the Tour Championship to become more than just the season finale. The [=FedEx=] Cup was born. From the opening event in Hawaii in January, to the Tour Championship, now moved up to September to avoid competing against the NFL, players would compete in a regular season, followed by a four-event playoff series, culminating at the Tour Championship, where the player who had the most points at the event of the playoffs would win the [=FedEx=] Cup and a $10 million prize. A player did not have to win the Tour Championship to win the [=FedEx=] Cup. This was based on NASCAR's Chase for the Cup, created in 2004, and was just as divisive. At the end of the regular season, the Top 144 in the [=FedEx=] Cup points standings would move onto the playoffs, with the points being reset before the first event. The Top 100 would move on to event two, the Top 70 on to event three, and then the Top 30 on to the Tour Championship. Much tinkering went on with the format in its early years, and in 2008, Vijay Singh had enough points to win the [=FedEx=] Cup before the Tour Championship, needing to finish merely finish the event, which wasn't ideal for trying to draw viewers. For 2009, the Top 125 qualified for the playoffs, and points would be reset for the Tour Championship, giving all 30 participants a chance to win. Beginning with the 2018-19 season[[note]]The Tour's schedule got so cramped, it now goes from the fall of one calendar year to the late summer of the next[[/note]], the number of playoff events was cut down to three, and whoever wins the Tour Championship wins the [=FedEx=] Cup, as each competitor starts the event with a predetermined amount of strokes (the [=FedEx=] Cup points leader starts the tournament at 10-under, second place at 8-under, third at 7-under, right down to the players in positions 26 to 30, who start the tournament at even par). The award for winning the [=FedEx=] Cup was also increased to $15 million. Because of this change, the Tour Championship no longer offers its own purse, though it still awards a sterling silver replica of legendary golfer Bobby Jones's putter Calamity Jane to its winner, as has been the case since 2005.

* ColbertBump: Because of Bob Barker's cameo, ratings for ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'' rose considerably amongst college-age viewers.

* WrittenInInfirmity: Mr. Larson is always leaning on something, as years earlier Richard Kiel suffered a head injury in a car accident which severely affected his balance, causing him to spend much of the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

* CastTheExpert: Christopher [=McDonald=] was cast in part because he was an avid golfer in real life and could actually hit the shots required by the script himself. Director Dennis Dugan leaned into this by using wide-angle shots whenever he could to show off [=McDonald=] hitting shots for real, including Shooter's climactic 30-foot putt. Dugan gave [=McDonald=] seven tries to sink it on camera before he would use editing to stitch it together; [=McDonald=] did it in five.

* TalkingToHimself: Adam Sandler secretly provided the vocal effects for the clown at the mini-golf scene.
* ThrowItIn: [=McDonald=] ad-libbed Shooter's finger-gun celebrations and mannerisms, since the script never laid out why he was named or nicknamed "Shooter". Similarly, [=McDonald=]'s celebration when Shooter sinks his final putt at the championship was genuine and off-the-cuff, as the extras and crew were audibly cheering and placing bets on whether [=McDonald=] could sink the 30-foot putt himself.

** In the film, the Tour Championship is seen as the pro golf tour's most prestigious event, and seems to be a major championship. But when ''Happy Gilmore'' came out in 1996, the PGA Tour's Tour Championship was nothing more than the tour's season finale. Yes, a player had to be in the Top 30 on the Tour's Money List following the event the week before, but that was it. This, despite the face that, for most of its first decade of existence, the tournament offered the PGA Tour's highest first place check, worth even more than the four majors[[note]]The Masters, US Open, Open Championship (or British Open), and PGA Championship[[/note]], and the Tour's signature event, The Players Championship[[note]]The Tour does not run the majors; it merely sanctions them[[/note]]. Eventually, late in the 1990s, both the Tour and Players Championships were offering the same amount of money for winning ($900,000) only for the PGA Tours around the world to get together and create the World Golf Championships, whose three events would each offer a $1 million check to their respective winner, the first $1 million checks in golf's history. It wasn't until the emergence of Tiger Woods and the popularity that came with him that purses went up in every event, and finally, in 2001, The Masters would become the first major to award a seven-figure check to its winner (Woods, in this case). But the Tour still wanted the Tour Championship to mean something. In 2005, the PGA Tour signed new television deals with Golf Channel, NBC, and CBS, and decided to create a way for the Tour Championship to become more than just the season finale. The [=FedEx=] Cup was born. From the opening event in Hawaii in January, to the Tour Championship, now moved up to September, players would compete in a regular season, followed by a four-event playoff series, culminating at the Tour Championship, where the player who had the most points at the event of the playoffs would win the [=FedEx=] Cup and a $10 million prize. A player did not have to win the Tour Championship to win the [=FedEx=] Cup. This was based on NASCAR's Chase for the Cup, created in 2004, and was just as divisive. At the end of the regular season, the Top 144 in the [=FedEx=] Cup points standings would move onto the playoffs, with the points being reset before the first event. The Top 100 would move on to event two, the Top 70 on to event three, and then the Top 30 on to the Tour Championship. Much tinkering went on with the format in its early years, and in 2008, Vijay Singh had enough points to win the [=FedEx=] Cup before the Tour Championship, needing to finish merely finish the event, which wasn't ideal for trying to draw viewers. For 2009, the Top 125 qualified for the playoffs, and points would be reset for the Tour Championship, giving all 30 participants a chance to win. Beginning with the 2018-19 season[[note]]The Tour's schedule got so cramped, it now goes from the fall of one calendar year to the late summer of the next[[/note]], the number of playoff events was cut down to three, and whoever wins the Tour Championship wins the [=FedEx=] Cup, as each competitor starts the event with a predetermined amount of strokes (the [=FedEx=] Cup points leader starts the tournament at 10-under, second place at 8-under, third at 7-under, right down to the players in positions 26 to 30, who start the tournament at even par). The award for winning the [=FedEx=] Cup was also increased to $15 million. Because of this change, the Tour Championship no longer offers its own purse, though it still awards a sterling silver replica of legendary golfer Bobby Jones's putter Calamity Jane to its winner, as has been the case since 2005.

** In the film, the Tour Championship is seen as the pro golf tour's most prestigious event, and seems to be a major championship. But when ''Happy Gilmore'' came out in 1996, the PGA Tour's Tour Championship was nothing more than the tour's season finale. Yes, a player had to be in the Top 30 on the Tour's Money List following the event the week before, but that was it. This, despite the face that, for most of its first decade of existence, the tournament offered the PGA Tour's highest first place check, worth even more than the four majors[[note]]The Masters, US Open, Open Championship (or British Open), and PGA Championship[[/note]], and the Tour's signature event, The Players Championship[[note]]The Tour does not run the majors; it merely sanctions them[[/note]]. Eventually, late in the 1990s, both the Tour and Players Championships were offering the same amount of money for winning ($900,000) only for the PGA Tours around the world to get together and create the World Golf Championships, whose three events would each offer a $1 million check to their respective winner, the first $1 million checks in golf's history. It wasn't until the emergence of Tiger Woods and the popularity that came with him that purses went up in every event, and finally, in 2001, The Masters would become the first major to award a seven-figure check to its winner (Woods, in this case). But the Tour still wanted the Tour Championship to mean something. In 2005, the PGA Tour signed new television deals with Golf Channel, NBC, and CBS, and decided to create a way for the Tour Championship to become more than just the season finale. The [=FedEx=] Cup was born. From the opening event in Hawaii in January, to the Tour Championship, now moved up to September, players would compete in a regular season, followed by a four-event playoff series, culminating at the Tour Championship,

* CastTheExpert: Christopher [=McDonald=] was cast in part because he was an avid golfer in real life and could actually hit the shots required by the script himself. Director Dennis Dugan leaned into this by using wide-angle shots whenever he could to show off [=McDonald=] hitting shots for real, including Shooter's climactic 30-foot putt. Dugan gave McDonald seven tries to sink it on camera before he would use editing to stitch it together; [=McDonald=] did it in five.

* IronyAsSheIsCast: Chubbs claims that his mother wouldn't let him sign a permission slip for football. In RealLife, Creator/CarlWeathers was a football player before becoming an actor.

* CastingGag: Lee Trevino as the silent golfer. He was well known of the PGA Tour for [[MotorMouth never shutting up]].

* ActorAllusion:
** Multiple layers of it in a single short conversation. First, Happy asks Chubbs why a guy his size isn't playing a "real sport" like football or something. (Carl Weathers, who played Chubbs, used to be a pro football player). Chubbs answers the question by claiming that his mother wouldn't let him play anything dangerous. Happy comments that maybe that's a good idea. (Weathers also played Apollo Creed in the ''Franchise/{{Rocky}}'' movies, who died in the ring during the [[Film/RockyIV fourth film]]). Then, Happy discovers that Chubbs is missing a hand, and in ''Film/{{Predator}}'' Weathers' character had an arm cut off just before being killed.
** The character of Mr. Larson is referred to as 'Frankenstein' at one point. Richard Kiel who plays him was in a [[Series/TheMonkees Monkees]] episode as a 'Frankenstein' type creature.
** Mr. Larson is also a strong, intimidating giant who has a heart of gold, kinda like [[Franchise/JamesBond Jaws]].