It’s universally agreed that golf takes the crown for being the most boring sport to play and to watch.

In 1996 a young Adam Sandler, in his third leading role, attempted to at least make a comedy about golf fun, which he achieved with a modicum of success.

Although far from considered a classic, Sandler goes again as the titular character in what turns out to be an unnecessary sequel.

After a personal tragedy, Happy Gilmore (Sandler) gives up his career as a pro golfer, where he finds himself having to bring up his five children on his own.

He’s struggling financially, with having lost his grandmother’s house, finding himself having to work in a store to bring in cash.

Now grown up, he finds his daughter Vienna (Jackie Sandler) has a lot of talent as a ballet dancer, and has a place in a prestigious ballet school in Paris, but the fees are astronomical.

The only way he can attempt to pay for them is to do the unthinkable - pick up his clubs and make it on the pro circuit again.

But there’s a new player on the golf scene, CEO of Maxi Energy Drink Frank Manatee (Benny Safdie), who has created maxi golf, a sexier version of the game to appeal to a younger, hipper crowd.

With Happy not having swung a club in years, he has a lot to get to grips with, like his drinking problem for one, if he’s to make it big as a pro once again.

This is a sequel that no one was crying out for, hence the nearly thirty years gap. And now that it’s released, nothing has changed in that respect.

It is a film that is very short on story and originality – with it pretty much echoing the first film – and long on nepotism (with five Sandlers getting a credit, and that’s not including Adam) and an endless conveyor belt of forgettable cameos; there are 35 ‘himself’ credits, with the majority of those being current and ex pros, which unless you’re a fan of golf, will go over the heads of most watching it, like a drive off the first tee.

It’s only the third film to be directed by Kyle Newacheck, with the last one being the 2019 Sandler comedy Murder Mystery, and as well as all the pointless cameos, he’s keen to regularly refer to the original, often with flashbacks to returning characters just so you know who the hell they are. With this element and all the endless ‘famous faces’, there’s really no room for a story, but that hasn’t been an issue in other Sandler films, in what feels overall very much like a cut and paste effort in direction.

The original wasn’t that funny on release, and has proven to not having aged particularly well in that department. But this follow-up is embarrassingly poor, that may even try the patience of any die-hard Sandler fan, who let’s face it, have low expectations as it is.

The only thing this film does manage to do is be consistent in also not being very funny from the first hole, and managing to feel instantly dated, in what is a truly subpar comedy.