CHARLESTON — Legendary actor and Charleston resident Bill Murray is exploring another passion of his in his latest venture: golf.
Murray and golf writer Tom Coyne are collaborating on a new documentary called “A Course Called Ireland,” a six-part series that will premier Oct. 25 on Paramount+.
The documentary was commissioned by the streaming service and is based on Coyne’s 2009 The New York Times bestseller “A Course Called Ireland: A Long Walk in Search of a Country, a Pint, and the Next Tee.”
For the book, Coyne walked around Ireland, exploring the country, but mostly its golf courses. He has also authored “A Course Called Scotland: Searching the Home of Golf for the Secret to its Game,” “A Course Called America: Fifty States, Five Thousand Fairways, and the Search for the Great American Golf Course” and “A Course Called Home: Adventures of an Accidental Golf Course Owner,” among other popular golf books.
Murray, an award-winning actor with more than 70 movies to his name, has pronounced ties to golf that span to his childhood.
He and his five brothers caddied and played growing up in Chicago. They were all later inducted into the Caddie Hall of Fame. The siblings also founded William Murray Golf, a line of men’s and women’s golf apparel, accessories and hats that pay homage to the game while infusing a little irreverence.
And of course, one of Murray’s most famous roles was that of Carl Spackler, an unhinged greenskeeper in the 1980 sports comedy movie “Caddyshack.” The film was was directed and co-written by his fellow “Ghostbusters” star, Harold Ramis, and, allegedly, Murray spent only six days filming it and improvised most of his lines.
Murray lives in Charleston, having bought an oceanfront, Sullivan’s Island house in the 1990s.
Along with Murray and Coyne, the documentary will feature Murray’s brothers Joel and John Murray, retired football player and ESPN analyst Jason Kelce, and Irish actors Chris O’Dowd and Joanne McNally.