The Real Person Who Inspired 'Happy Gilmore'

Time​ Magazine

2 days ago

Since the sequel was confirmed in May of last year, fans have been anticipating the return of Happy Gilmore's wild swing. Nearly 30 years since the original movie became a box-office and home video success with its quotable lines, over-the-top cameos (see: Bob Barker's legendary fight scene) and quirky sports-underdog story, Adam Sandler returns as the anti-establishment golf dynamo in Happy Gilmore 2, premiering on Netflix July 25.
When the new movie picks up, decades after his rise to golf fame, Happy's life has changed a great deal since we last saw him. Now a father to five mostly grown children, having weathered some critical life events that led him to pack up his clubs, Happy's reluctant return to the green isn't about saving Grandma's house—it's to pay for his talented daughter's expensive Parisian dance lessons. The stakes are different, but the hustle remains the same.
With his signature temper and unorthodox swing still intact, Happy takes on a new generation of rivals, reconnects with old allies, and proves that he's still got what it takes to shake up the golf world.
But as the character returns to the center of pop-cultural discourse, it's worth revisiting an origin story that many fans might not know, or remember: that the idea for the goofy, hot-tempered golfer actually came from Sandler's own childhood. Here is the story of Kyle McDonough, the lifelong friend who inspired an iconic character.
The making of Happy Gilmore
When Happy Gilmore went into production in 1995, Sandler was just coming off of a five-year run on Saturday Night Live, where he had become a fan favorite for characters like 'Canteen Boy' and 'Opera Man.' Though he had appeared in a few supporting film roles, it was the unexpected success of 1995's Billy Madison, a film he co-wrote with his writing partner Tim Herlihy, that positioned Sandler as a rising big-screen comedic lead.
In finding a formula that worked, Sandler and Herlihy doubled down on Madison's "man-child" archetype by crafting a character whose immaturity, explosive temper, and oddly endearing charm would become central to Sandler's on-screen identity. Their writing process often involved riffing on simple, silly concepts and building characters around bizarre premises or one-joke ideas that could evolve into something more substantial.
The film's influences included the obvious, like the golf comedy Caddyshack, as well as unexpected genre nods. Carl Weathers' Chubbs Peterson, a one-handed former golf pro who lost his other hand to an alligator, had direct visual and tonal references to Weathers' previous role in Predator.
But before all those things came into play there was McDonough, Sandler's childhood friend without whom there may never have been a Happy Gilmore.
Kyle McDonough's hockey-infused golf swing
Sandler met McDonough when he moved from his birthplace of Brooklyn to New Hampshire at age 6. The two became friends and went on to play hockey together for their high school team.
McDonough comes from a family with deep roots in hockey. His father, Hubie McDonough Jr., coached high school hockey, while his brother, Hubie III, enjoyed a 13-year professional career, playing for teams including the Los Angeles Kings and the New York Islanders.
Even though McDonough's talents were primarily dedicated to the rink, they transferred to the green, where he could demolish golf balls handily, outdriving even technically skilled competitors using pure hockey power.
Sandler's dad watched McDonough in awe and said five words that would inspire a cult classic: 'There's something funny in there.'
The influence of Stanley Sandler
In the 1996 film, Weathers' Peterson serves as a golf mentor to Happy, offering guidance much like Sandler's own father did.
Throughout his career, the younger Sandler has often spoken about the significant influence his father had on him. Stanley Sandler, an avid golfer, often brought young Adam to the driving range, where the two bonded over the game. After watching McDonough play, it was Stanley who pointed out how hockey players have an uncanny ability to transfer their talents onto the golf course.
That influence extended to his son's creative work, particularly when it came to shaping the golf scenes in Happy Gilmore. Since Stanley had such an extensive knowledge of the game, Sandler and Herlihy, who re-teamed on Happy Gilmore 2, would use him as a sort of unofficial fact-checker during the writing process to ensure the accuracy of their screenplay.
'We'd call my dad and say 'does this make sense?' and 'when you putt what are you thinking?'' the comedian and filmmaker explained last year on the Kelce brothers' New Heights podcast. The iconic 'It's all in the hips' line that Chubb delivers to Happy was pulled directly from one of those conversations between father and son.
Lines like that weren't solely for laughs—they came from real memories, which lent heart to the humor that resonated both on and off the screen. Sandler's father's legacy also brought extra meaning to golf legend Jack Nicklaus agreeing to cameo as himself in the sequel.
'I talked to him [Nicklaus] on the phone a couple of weeks before we shot and it reminded me of growing up so much and what he meant to my dad,' Sandler said in an interview last year with Dan Patrick, who also appears in the new movie.
Where is McDonough now?
While Happy struggled to make the hockey roster in the first film, McDonough's accomplishments are the kind his fictional counterpart could only dream about.
After high school, he became a star player at the University of Vermont, where he was a three-time ECAC All-Star and a first-team All-American in 1989. He led the Catamounts to the program's first NCAA tournament appearance in 1988 and the team's only ECAC Division I title game appearance in 1989. He led the team in scoring for three out of his four years there.
Following his collegiate career, McDonough took his talents overseas, spending 11 professional seasons playing for teams across Europe including Denmark, Sweden, and Scotland.
But it was in 2000 with Frisk Asker Ishockey in Norway, during his final season, where he had his greatest success. 'I've had so many good memories from hockey,' McDonough reflected, 'but I'd say winning the Norwegian Elite series championship in my last year would be right up there at the top.'
All of his accomplishments led him to be inducted into both the UVM Athletic Hall of Fame and the New Hampshire Legends Of Hockey. Since retiring from professional hockey, McDonough ventured into coaching, like his father, at both the high school and collegiate levels.
As far as his role as the inspiration behind Happy, McDonough owns the connection. Sandler and McDonough's friendship has endured the long Hollywood chapter between films. 'I've been to many movie shoots and a couple of Super Bowls with him, he said in an interview with British Ice Hockey, 'and he always takes care of everything and treats his old buds like kings.'