Donald Duck playing golf in 1938 is just outstanding
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Donald Duck playing golf in 1938 is just outstanding

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The year was 1938. The U.S. was still 3 years from entering World War II, but on the tail end of fighting through the Great Depression. The fifth Augusta National Invitation Tournament had been played -- the last before it became known simply as the Masters.

In November of that year, Donald Duck was playing golf.

In a 75-year-old cartoon called "Donald's Golf Game," the surly swine took his sticks and caddie-nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie to the links for a round.

It's a great, 7-minute cartoon that show precisely what the Disney folks thought of the game.

The premise is pretty simple: The anger-prone Donald goes out for a quick 18 on a beautiful day but gets annoyed with the distractions from Mother Nature and his nephews. Hilarity ensues.

Some highlights:

  • Some great things happen in this cartoon beyond Donald Duck's anger issues flaring up:
  • At the 45-second mark, one of the nephews fashions a tee out of sand. Sand!
  • Just 10 seconds later, the origination of the Jason Dufner waggle becomes evident.
  • A little over a minute in, Donald yells are a bird for chirping. But he's also a bird.
  • When the boys blow their nose simultaneously to distract Donald, the uncle doesn't quite use Ian Poulter's suggestion to silence hecklers, but they didn't have tasers in 1938.
  • At around the 3-minute mark, Donald experiences what it must have felt like all week at the Presidents Cup (sans streaker, but then again, Donald Duck doesn't wear pants).
  • A little before the 5-minute mark, Donald shows his true Woody Austin self, including a small cameo as Aquaman. Wrong animation house.
  • One of the three nephews puts some Phil Mickelson backspin on one at 6:30.
  • Donald never does finish a hole.

If you find some great cartoons featuring golf, let us know on Twitter and we'll review them here.

About the author

Ryan Ballengee

Ryan Ballengee is founder and editor of Golf News Net. He has been writing and broadcasting about golf for nearly 20 years. Ballengee lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his family. He is a scratch golfer...sometimes.

Ballengee can be reached by email at ryan[at]thegolfnewsnet.com

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