Carl Spackler, Judge Smails help Dallas area group win Myrtle Beach golf video contest

Lackluster impersonations of Carl Spackler, Judge Smails, Roy McAvoy, Shooter McGavin and Happy Gilmore earned David Watkins of Plano, Texas, and three of his friends $10,000 and a golf trip to Myrtle Beach, among other prizes.

Watkins and his golf buddies have won Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday’s “Myrtle Beach Golf is Great Video Contest” with a three-minute compilation of parodied scenes from three of their favorite golf movies: Tin Cup, Happy Gilmore and Caddyshack.

“The acting was just good enough and just corny enough to work,” said Watkins, a sports anchor and reporter for KXAS NBC Dallas-Fort Worth who learned of the promotion and organized his group’s video.

“When we first decided to do this we thought worst case scenario we’d have fun putting it together and shooting it and we’d have something to laugh at for a long time,” Watkins said. “Best case scenario was we’d win money and a trip to Myrtle Beach. It worked out beyond our wildest dreams.”

Golf Holiday president Bill Golden said the marketing cooperative received 56 entries that were up to three minutes each and is impressed enough with the results to hold the contest again next year.

Golf Holiday established the contest in the hopes of creating some shareable content and possibly viral videos while promoting positive commentary about the game.

“We didn’t know what to expect going into it. Now that I see the quality and effort that went into the videos, it was interesting to see the passion that went behind it, which kind of spoke to our original concept of the contest,” Golden said. “It really worked well and now that we have some videos that have been submitted, we can use those to promote the contest next year and use those in our promotions. We got some really good grassroots content.”

Consumers were encouraged to submit videos through Facebook or Youtube with the hashtag #GolfisGreat and share the link with Golf Holiday over about three months through Oct. 1. Viewer voting determined the top 10 entries and Golf Holiday marketing executives chose the winner.

The choice between the top three was so difficult Golf Holiday is giving the other two finalists trips to Myrtle Beach, as well.

Originality was highly valued, as the contest was meant to be fun, and some entrants included powerful messages about loss and the power of golf and its role in forming lasting relationships.

“There were quite a few videos that were similar in terms of production qualities, and there were some that were homemade,” Golden said. “There were some great videos, some emotional videos.”

Golf Holiday ran some TV spots promoting the contest on Golf Channel and on ESPN during Coastal Carolina’s games in the College World Series, and the contest was also prominent on Golf Holiday's digital and social media platforms.

Golden said the web page hosting the videos received just shy of 100,000 page views and videos were viewed 190,000 times. Another 75,000 viewed the contest’s original promotional video on the Golf Holiday Facebook page.

The top 10 finalists and several other entrants remain on the Golf is Great page (golfisgreat.com) of Golf Holiday’s website.

After learning of the video contest, Watkins recruited longtime friends Stephen Slater, Derek Johnson and Sean Davis to shoot the video with him. Slater is a business consultant with Southwest Airlines, Johnson is a principal at MUFG Capital Analytics and Davis owns and operates Primrose daycare locations. Watkins’ familiarity with cutting film and his assuredness on screen were benefits.

“I couldn’t have done it without the Academy Award-winning acting by my mates, especially Derek. He nailed the Bill Murray, Ken Venturi and Rodney Dangerfield characters, and the giant in Happy Gilmore,” Watkins said.

Watkins was informed by Golf Holiday that his group’s video had won, and he and Golf Holiday officials conspired to surprise the rest of the group. Golf Holiday marketing director Jenna Hottel and a pair of videographers traveled to Dallas on Saturday and ambushed the group with the news as they were warming up for a round at TPC Four Seasons Las Colinas.

“We heard a bunch of strange noises and they said who they were and congratulated us, and we just went crazy. It was hilarious,” Watkins said.

The group takes an annual golf trip and has recently been to Las Vegas and Scottsdale, Ariz., and is going this upcoming spring to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.

“We’ve been making the rounds and Myrtle Beach was on our short list of places we wanted to go,” Watkins said. “If we have a great time in Myrtle Beach like we think we will, we may use [the $10,000] to go back to Myrtle Beach again.”

The group is planning to take its complimentary four-day, three-night trip to Myrtle Beach in either April or May

“They were really representative of our golf audience so it was a perfect match,” Golden said of the winners.

This story was originally published December 9, 2016 at 2:36 PM with the headline "Carl Spackler, Judge Smails help Dallas area group win Myrtle Beach golf video contest."