The 10 best golf films of all time
The 10 best golf films: 2. From the Rough
An Englishman, an Australian, a South Korean, a French-Algerian and an African American walk into a bar, no this is not the beginning of a bad joke but the first ever golf team Tania Starks puts together.
From the Rough is the story of Starks (Taraji P. Henson), the former swim coach of Tennessee State University.
She is a workaholic coach who, when the chance presents itself to become the university’s newly formed men’s golf team coach, volunteers for the role and in doing so becomes the first female African American to coach a men’s NCAA division golf team.
Starks only gets the job because no-one else is interested and then finds in turn nobody is interested in playing for her.
She casts her net far and wide recruiting other people’s table scraps – who hail from five different continents – instead of just the black American community which is the more traditional route for TSU sports teams.
This multi-layered film about a multi-racial team shows how golf can bring us together and the difference a dedicated coach can make, not only to somebody’s game but their whole life.
Did you know? In her time at TSU one of the players Starks coached, Sean Foley, went on to become Tiger Woods’ swing coach.
Alex Perry
Alex has been the editor of National Club Golfer since 2017. A Devonian who enjoys wittering on about his south west roots, Alex moved north to join NCG after more than a decade in London, the last five of which were with ESPN. Away from golf, Alex follows Torquay United and spends too much time playing his PlayStation or his guitar and not enough time practising his short game.
