Once intimidated by golf, Owen Wilson is now ready to hit the links around the world after learning how to play the sport for his new Apple TV+ series, Stick.
With renowned golf courses across the globe to choose from, like St Andrews Links, Pebble Beach, and the Fairmont Banff Springs, there are plenty of destinations for Wilson to visit—and the Hollywood star has already added some to his list.
“There’s one in Ireland called Adare Manor that I visited before I played golf, and it was just a beautiful place,” Wilson told Travel + Leisure in a recent interview. “I know that that’s where they’re going to do the Ryder Cup in a few years, so I would like to go back there and play.”
In addition to Adare Manor, the host of the 2027 Ryder Cup, there is another course—home to the iconic Masters golf tournament—that Wilson would like to check off his list. “I would love to play, obviously, Augusta [National Golf Club], that’s maybe the most famous in the world,” he said.
Unlike pickleball and padel—activities Wilson picked up while traveling and brought home with him—golf was more of a challenge for the actor to learn ahead of his role in Stick. He plays a former golf pro named Pryce Cahill who discovers a teenage golf prodigy in the Apple TV+ series, which also stars Peter Dager, Marc Maron, Mariana Treviño, Lilli Kay, and Judy Greer.
Owen Wilson with Peter Dager in Stick.
Justine Yeung/Apple TV+
“I was a little bit intimidated by golf because my dad was a very good golfer. I had never seemed to be able to pick it up. And I just thought, ‘Okay, this is one sport I’m just not going to be able to do,’” Wilson admitted. “So when [series creator] Jason Keller first kind of spoke to me, I think that sort of anxiety made me nervous about, you know, could I sort of do it in a way that would feel good? And Jason has a nice quality of reassurance and just got me to think, ‘Yeah. Okay, you can do this.’”
“And I started taking some lessons, and then I discovered that whoa it isn’t this, you know, mysterious thing. It will yield to practice,” he continued. “That’s been the great thing for me about working on this, is learning something new.”
Owen Wilson
Window or aisle?
Window. I mean, I don’t even see how somebody could possibly not take the window because it’s just better for sleeping. I don’t know why anyone would ever pick aisle… I don’t know, are there any aisle people out there? That’s like asking, “Do you like bumper-to-bumper traffic or just flying along on the freeway?”
Go-to travel snack?
Well, I love nachos. I don’t know if that’s a travel snack… [feigns asking a flight attendant] “Could you make some nachos?” There could be an opening though for them to, you know, bring that in. At least quesadillas they should be able to do.
One thing you can’t travel without?
[Laughs] Nachos.
Favorite thing to do on the plane?
It’s nice when you can sleep if it’s a long flight. This will sound funny because you don’t necessarily love sitting next to someone who’s a big talker, but sometimes you’ll sit next to someone who’s really interesting that is great to talk to.
Are you the talker?
Sometimes if I sense the person doesn’t want to talk to me, that makes me more likely to talk to them. I had this person that I was happy to see they were reading when I sat down, but as soon as I sat down, they said, “I cannot put this book down,” and then put it down and started telling me about the book.
Dream vacation spot?
A place that I haven’t been—but lately I’ve been curious about—is Istanbul. I would like to visit.
Pitt Meadows Golf Club in British Columbia, Canada, was one of the golf courses where Stick was shot, in addition to other “spectacular courses” in Vancouver. Stick creator and executive producer Jason Keller told T+L, “We had the good fortune of being able to spend some time on some really great courses up there. And they look beautiful, and it was fun. I mean it was tricky shooting on a golf course, especially with Owen, because between takes, he would sometimes grab a golf cart and go work on his chipping somewhere else. And so sometimes it necessitated me having to go and find him to bring him back to shoot the show.”
“What I’m hearing you say is that ‘Owen was a workaholic. Even when we were taking a break, this guy would be working,’” Wilson interjected. Keller pointed out that, in that way, Wilson was “really kind of a method actor” during this shoot.
“I was. For the first time in my career, I decided, like, let’s see what all this method acting is about,” Wilson said with a laugh.
While the golf comedy debuted on June 4, the actor plans to stick with the sport. “I’m on the back nine in life, and I see this carrying me right to the 19th hole,” Wilson said. In fact, Wilson also revealed that he recently traveled to Australia, where he played on a “beautiful golf course.” “That’s a great thing to do when you’re traveling,” Wilson said, “Because there’s a lot of beautiful golf courses around the world.”