Caddyshack is a 1980 American sports comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, written by Brian Doyle-Murray, Ramis and Douglas Kenney, and starring Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Michael O'Keefe and Bill Murray with supporting roles by Sarah Holcomb, Cindy Morgan, and Doyle-Murray. It tells the story of a caddie, vying for a caddie scholarship, who becomes involved in a feud on the links between one of the country club's founders and a nouveau riche guest. A subplot involves a greenskeeper who uses extreme methods against an elusive gopher.
Caddyshack was Ramis's directorial debut and boosted the career of Dangerfield, who was previously known mostly for his stand-up comedy. Grossing nearly $40 million at the domestic box office (the 17th-highest of the year), it was the first of a series of similar comedies.
The film has a cult following and was described by ESPN as "perhaps the funniest sports movie ever made".
A sequel titled Caddyshack II (1988) followed, although only Chase reprised his role; it was a box-office bomb.
Plot
Danny Noonan works as a caddie at the exclusive Bushwood Country Club to earn money to pay for college. Danny caddies for Ty Webb, a mischievous lothario and the son of one of Bushwood's co-founders. Danny tries to curry favor with Judge Elihu Smails, the country club's haughty co-founder and director of the caddie scholarship program, by caddying for him. Meanwhile, Carl Spackler, a mentally unstable greenskeeper, hunts a potentially destructive gopher reported by Smails. Spackler attempts to kill it with a rifle and high-pressure hose but fails.
Al Czervik, a loud and free-spirited nouveau riche golfer and successful real estate developer, attends the club as a guest. Czervik loudly offers a wager, distracting Smails as he tees off and causing his shot to go wrong. Later, bored by slow play, Czervik wagers with Smails again. Smails is enraged for losing the bet and angrily throws his putter, injuring an elderly woman. Danny takes the blame for the incident to impress Smails. Smails encourages him to apply for the caddie scholarship.
At Bushwood's annual Fourth of July banquet, Danny and his girlfriend Maggie work as wait staff. Czervik continues to bully Smails and the older club members while entertaining and befriending the younger ones, as well as the staff, to whom he consistently gives generous tips. Danny becomes attracted to Smails' promiscuous niece Lacey Underall who is visiting for the summer and frequents the club.
Later, Danny wins the Caddy Day golf tournament and the scholarship, earning him an invitation from Smails to attend the christening ceremony for his boat at the nearby Rolling Lakes Yacht Club. Smails's boat is sunk at the event after a collision with Czervik's larger boat. Returning home, Smails discovers Lacey and Danny in bed at his house. Expecting to be fired, Danny is surprised when Smails only demands that he keeps the escapade secret in exchange for awarding him the caddy scholarship.
Unable to bear the continued presence of the uncouth Czervik, Smails confronts him and announces that he will never be granted membership. Czervik counters by announcing that he would never consider being a member: he only claimed to be a guest to evaluate buying the club and developing the land into condominiums. After a brief fight and exchange of insults, Webb suggests they discuss the situation over drinks. After Smails demands satisfaction, Czervik proposes a secret team golf match with Smails and his regular golfing partner Dr. Beeper against Czervik and Webb. Against club rules, they also agree to a $20,000 wager on the match, which quickly doubles to $40,000. That evening, Webb practices for the game against Smails, and his errant shot brings him to meet Carl; the two share a bottle of wine and a joint.
The match is held the next day. Word spreads of the stakes involved, drawing in a crowd of club members and employees. During the game, Smails and Beeper take the lead, while Czervik, to his chagrin, is "playing the worst game of his life". Webb grows increasingly distracted and also plays a poor game. Czervik reacts to Smails' heckling by impulsively doubling the wager to $80,000 per team. When his own ricocheting ball strikes his arm, Czervik fakes an injury in hopes of having the contest declared a draw. Lou, a club staffer who is acting as the umpire, tells Czervik his team will forfeit unless they find a substitute. When Webb chooses Danny, Smails threatens to revoke his scholarship. Czervik promises Danny that he will make it "worth his while" if he wins, and Danny chooses to play.