Verne Lundquist was thrilled to return for “Happy Gilmore 2,” nearly 30 years after his original cameo helped make the first film a cult classic. But before he was trading lines about “gangster sh*t” with Post Malone, Lundquist almost missed out on the role altogether, one he’s since become inseparable from.
Despite covering the Masters for four decades, Lundquist is still recognized as the guy from “Happy Gilmore.” That cameo ultimately became one of the most enduring parts of his career. Uncle Verne, who called his final Masters for CBS last year, serves as a link between multiple generations of golf fans. And a generation of “Happy Gilmore” fans, as well.
Nothing was going to stop him from making time for the sequel. Not when he almost didn’t make it into the first one.
Lundquist first heard about the “Happy Gilmore” role from his longtime agent, the late Bob Rosen, a man who seemingly represented every golf voice at CBS. Rosen told him there was a cameo spot for a sports announcer in a new Adam Sandler movie, and that they wanted Verne to fly to Vancouver to shoot it.
“So I did,” Lundquist recalled to Brandon Contes on an upcoming episode of the Awful Announcing Podcast. “When they handed me the script — they had to hand-deliver it to my hotel room — I looked at the top right-hand corner. They’d tried to erase the name, but I could still see it. It said Pat Summerall.”
That’s right. The role was originally offered to Pat Summerall, who apparently turned it down.
“I’ve often wondered about that,” Lundquist said. “The movie didn’t go anywhere in theaters. But then it got released on VHS… and then USA Cable picked it up, and that’s when it really took off.”
There’s no public record of Summerall ever turning down the role, but Lundquist was happy to joke about the near miss. When asked if he had ever thanked Summerall for passing it on, Verne laughed. You don’t need to remind him that it’s a legacy that, ironically, almost belonged to someone else. He’s already sent his thanks.
“He had no idea the movie would take off,” Lundquist said of Summerall. “The one thing I loved about it is that I got Pat Summerall money.”
And that Pat Summerall money gave us one of the most memorable lines in both the original “Happy Gilmore” and the sequel. Just like he had no clue who the hell Happy Gilmore was the first time, Lundquist admitted he had no idea who the hell Post Malone was either.
Some things change. Uncle Verne sure hasn’t.
Listen to the full episode of the Awful Announcing Podcast featuring Verne Lundquist beginning Thursday, July 31. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. For more content, subscribe to AA’s YouTube page.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.