Movie star Anthony Anderson isn't just an actor who scores roles in blockbuster movies. He's also a golf enthusiast. Starting June 23, Anderson will host a new series on "The Golf Channel" called "Golf In America." The show will cover human interest stories in the world of golf. On Thursday, Anderson took a few minutes to chat with FanHouse about his golf game, the upcoming series and his rainy-day stories about Tiger Woods. Here's what Anderson had to say:Shane Bacon: Are you a big golf fan?
Anthony Anderson: I am. I've been playing the game 14 years now.
Bacon: What turned you on to it?
Anderson: I was down in San Diego with my father-in-law, who was an avid golfer. He's a left-handed golfer and he took me to a driving range, he had one right-handed golf club in his bag, and I swung with it for about 45 minutes the whole time I was out there and I've been hooked ever since.
Bacon: What's your handicap?
Anderson: I'm a 14. When I'm playing well, I've played as low as a 10, but that's when I'm out there three to five times a week, you know, playing with nothing else to do but play golf, and you know, be a husband and a daddy when I'm home. But right now, it's back up to a 14, creeping a little higher because I haven't had the time to be playing like I want to.
Bacon: Understandable. I read you have two kids. You going to turn either of them on to golf? Either of them shown any interest in the game at all?
Anderson: You know, my son is, because I go out and play, he wants to know what it's all about. He has two sets of clubs, so he's gone up and taken golf lessons and little golf camps and things like that. My daughter, who's 13, just wants to drive the cart while we go out and play. I don't force it on them, I've introduced it to my son, and he's sort of backed off on it as of late, but if he wants to do it, he's more than welcome to play. I'm not one of those fathers like, "This is what you've got to do!" I let him choose what he wants, but I do tell him it's a great game to pick up, just for the sake of the game. You never know whether you may have to close a deal with someone, and they invite you out to play a round of golf with them, you know, depending on your business or whatever you decided to do, that's a four-hour sales pitch where you're just one-on-one with whomever is in control and can sign your fate. You might want to pick it up from a business point of view.
Bacon: Yeah, my college, at the business school, actually had a golf class to get people interested in the game, and you got credits for it to go out and learn the game.
Anderson: Oh really, where'd you go to school?
Bacon: The University of Arizona, in Tucson.
Anderson: Oh, OK, alright, great golf out there in Arizona.
Bacon: Totally, I still live out here. I actually played the other day, just don't tell my boss I did.
Anderson: (laughter) Just don't tell my wife I played nine holes the other day either.
Bacon: (laughter) Alright. Tell me a little bit about "Golf in America" debuting on The Golf Channel June 23. It seems like something a little bit different with golf that we haven't seen on television.
Anderson: It is, and that's what attracted me to the show and I think that's what will attract viewers to the show. Basically, human interest stories in and around the sport of golf, from around the country, so you don't even have to be a golf fan to enjoy the show. It's basically inside sports for the golf channel and I'm the host of it. With my hosting duties, I get to go out and interview some of the subjects and narrate some of the stories and I do the intros and the outros. We're not handcuffed to just golf. This is a show that could run year-round on The Golf Channel and still keep people interested.
Bacon: And what was the craziest story or the one that touched you the most that you dealt with when filming this series?
Anderson: There are a few. One was about a brother and sister, 11 and 9 years old, respectively, in Vancouver, British Colombia. Their father asked them what sport they wanted to play because he wanted the family to be involved in a family sport and the kids said they wanted to play golf. Well, the father became their golf coach, but what's interesting about that is that their father has never played a round of golf before in his life. He went to the library and read every golf book he could find, watched "The Golf Channel" and saw every instructional video known to man and taught his children the game, but what was really crazy was that they lived in a two-bedroom apartment, and they turned the master bedroom into a driving range. He lined the walls with mattresses and his son and daughter were in there three to four hours a day hitting golf balls and he, his wife and the two children all live in the second bedroom of the apartment. Now the brother and sister win every tournament in Canada.
The 9-year-old daughter is the number one girl in the world in her flight. Her brother is just as great as she is. The father is their coach and has never played. And they have the sweetest swings and their driving range is a bedroom in a small apartment in Vancouver. So these are the stories that we're doing, and it runs the gamut.
There's another story I was just talking about that (took place) in Texas. This gentleman was out on the golf course, he and his father, and he hit a ball, his tee shot, hit a tree and hit his father in the head and killed him. So, these are the type of stories we'll cover This is what we're doing with the show and this is what is appealing to me.
Bacon: Not to change gears, but who do you like at the U.S. Open this week?
Anderson: You know, man, I'm biased, because Tiger is a friend of mine and is also the number one player in the world, so it's hard to go against the number one player in the world, so I'm rooting for Tiger. With the course being wet, with his length, it only plays into his strengths more so than any other player out there. My bet will always be on Tiger whenever he's in a tournament.
Bacon: Have you played golf with Tiger before?
Anderson: One time, in the rain. I was back in Tampa for the Super Bowl, called Tiger up and told him I'd be in the area to see if he was around. I said, "Look man, I want to play with you, I've known you all these years, and we've yet to play a round of golf together," and he told me to come up, all he was doing was practicing. I drove up to Orlando, and they said Tiger was in this back driving range, and Tiger is there hitting balls, and the rain is coming down sideways and he is practicing downhill chip shots, literally seven to ten feet off the green, and he's stopping the ball on a dime right at the hole, and he had the biggest grin on his face. I asked him, "Is this why you're number one in the world" because the rain was coming down in sheets, sideways, man, and he's out there practicing downhill lie chip shots in the rain. And we went out and played six holes in the rain.
He forced me to play the Tiger tees with him. It was just amazing.
Bacon: Are they pretty far back?
Anderson: Oh yeah, they are beyond the tips. You know, you have red, white, blue, gold, blacks. No, these said "Tiger." We get to the tee box, and he tees off first, and I get up and I look down and the plaques on the ground say "Tiger." He out-drove me by 100-plus yards every hole.
Bacon: Wow, that's great stuff. It's awesome to hear these real stories of Tiger busting his tail at practice and stuff. It's like he's never satisfied. I think that's why people like him so much.
Anderson: I think that's exactly what it is. We were in Vegas one time and I had my kids with me and I introduced them to Tiger. We were sitting there talking and he said he was going out to practice in inclement weather, and I asked him about his swing change, and I asked him why, and he looked at me with that grin he has and he said, "You can always get better." And I was just like, wow, here he is fresh off a major win and he is going to overhaul his swing and say you can always get better. That's the guy that he is, man, and I respect him for that.
Bacon: Well, thanks for taking the time with us, Anthony. We appreciate it.
Anderson: Oh, thank you, I appreciate you giving me the opportunity. I hope you enjoy the series.
