It all started with a long drive.
A long drive competition, that is, to see who could drive a golf ball down the fairway the longest at the 2011 Pepsi Little People’s Golf Tournament. A competition that has been won by now Ball State freshman golfer Landon “Happy” Gilmore.
Gilmore was bestowed the nickname “Happy” at age six by an onlooker for winning said competition — and it happened to stick.
At the time, Gilmore was aware of the film “Happy Gilmore,” but it took some time for him to appreciate his new nickname.
“I would say I was around 13 when I finally got the connections and realized how popular the movie was,” Gilmore said.
Gilmore said the onlooker giving him his famous nickname is one of his earliest memories of competitive golf, and he said his ability to play golf competitively as a youth made him realize how much he loved the game.
Gilmore made waves in the junior golf circuit, as he qualified for the 2023 United States Junior Amateur Championship and finished as the runner-up at the 2023 Indiana Golf Hoosier Junior Championship. He capped off 2023 with a fourth-place finish in the Golfweek International Junior Invitational.
A successful time on the golf course on the junior circuits did not translate to the enjoyment of time spent off the course.
“There is so much dead time when our rounds will end. Some days it is five o’clock, and you don’t really have enough time to go do something,” Gilmore said. “You go [to the course], play your round and then sit in a hotel room for four or five hours, then you go to bed.”
The Bloomfield, Indiana, native attended Bloomington South High School and continued to make a name for himself on the golf course under head coach Dustin Carver.
During each of Gilmore’s four years with the Panthers, the team made the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) State Finals. Every year, Bloomington South placed in the top 10.
Carver said he remembered the first time he saw Gilmore swing a club and knew he was going to be a good addition to his team.
In Gilmore’s senior campaign, he had his own personal best finish, placing 11th out of all players.
Gilmore said he is proud of what he accomplished in high school but admitted he wished he could have won a state championship for his coach, who retired from coaching Bloomington South at the end of last season. He is now in an administrative role with the school.
“Me and the whole team, we had the goal of winning it,” Gilmore said. “It may have hurt us because we wanted it so bad for coach [Carver].”
Carver said he was lucky to coach Gilmore and expressed a similar sentiment toward all of his players. He said he was very fortunate to give back and teach for something that is a big part of his life in golf.
“It’s all about being able to wrap your arm around them after the rounds are played and having these conversations about life outside of golf,” Carver said.
Ball State men’s golf head coach Mike Fleck reached out to Gilmore in June 2022 after a then-second-straight state championship appearance.
Gilmore said Fleck was the first one from Ball State to reach out to him via text message. Within 24 hours, he had secured his first phone call with Fleck.
That September, Gilmore made his first visit to the campus and started to feel a real connection to university life.
“[After seeing] the team, their facilities, the coach and all that stuff, I was pretty much locked in on coming here,” Gilmore said.
Gilmore said he had more or less made up his mind of a commitment to the Cardinals around winter 2022, although he took his time in making an official decision.
Gilmore said he let Fleck know a day before the 2023 IHSAA State Championship and the only other people who knew were the few players he had spoken to outside of his campus visit.
Fast forward to June 23, 2023. Gilmore officially posted his commitment to Ball State on X the morning before the U.S. Junior Open Qualifier at the Delaware Country Club. As he puts it, he posted the commitment on X not long before his tee time.
Gilmore put his phone back in the bag and out of his mind, proceeding to qualify for the U.S. Junior Open by shooting a score of 66.
“I was not on my phone for almost half of the day, and I looked at my phone to see how it did,” Gilmore said. “It was at 450,000 views.”
Gilmore went and talked to a friend, then checked his phone 20 minutes later — the post had reached five million views and was retweeted by Adam Sandler, star of the 1996 film “Happy Gilmore.”
“It all didn’t process for me until a few days later,” Gilmore said. “I was more excited about qualifying for that tournament. I honestly wish I [posted the commitment] on a different day so I could have gotten the full experience.”
After posting his commitment, Gilmore played through his senior year and in various tournaments. In the aforementioned state championship meet, Gilmore was, at one point, two shots off of the lead. He shot a 70 in the first round and a 79 in the second round to get him at 149.
Now, in October 2024, Gilmore has played in numerous events for the Cardinals.
“It’s been awesome having Happy around,” Fleck said. “He’s obviously an outstanding golfer but he’s also an outstanding young man.”
Ball State and Gilmore have one more event for the fall portion of their season: Oct. 25-27 at the White Sands Bahamas Invitational before a sabbatical from competition.
The season resumes for the Cardinals in February, as they look to defend their 2024 Mid-American Conference Championship.
Contact Corbin Hubert via email at cchubert@bsu.edu or on X @corbin_hubert_.
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