In 1970s Britain, Maurice Flitcroft (
Mark Rylance) works as a crane operator for
Vickers in
Barrow-in-Furness. He insists on bringing up his sons to believe that they can become whatever they want to be. His step-son Michael has achieved strong academic qualifications and is a rapidly rising manager at the Vickers yard, while disco-loving twin sons Gene and James are encouraged to chase glory in dancing competitions. All the while, Maurice is supported by his loyal and quietly optimistic wife, Jean (
Sally Hawkins). Warned by Michael that an impending
nationalisation of Vickers could result in him becoming redundant, Maurice is unsure of what he could turn to before watching the
British Open on TV. Learning of its £10,000 winning prize, he reasons that golf cannot be a hard sport to learn and decides to enter the following year. Learning golf from an instruction book, he begins by practicing on the local beach and on nearby fields. Put off by the elitist entry requirements of his local golf club, he unsuccessfully attempts to sneak onto the course after closing to practice. With the tournament approaching and unsure of how to enter, Maurice writes a letter to the BBC golf presenter; he consequently learns that all he needs to do is fill in an application form. After obtaining a form, he sidesteps the requirement for amateur entrants to declare their
handicap by claiming he is a professional. Though
The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews have never heard of him, they reason that no-one would ever dare lie on the application form and accept his entry into the
1976 Open without investigation. At the tournament, Maurice achieves a score of 121 - the worst score by a "professional" golfer in the tournament's history. With the tournament broadcast live on TV, his performance has several effects - Michael is humiliated and is advised by his managers to distance himself from Maurice for the sake of his career, but the sporting public is captivated by Maurice, resulting in a spate of interviews and articles in the national press. Enraged by his sudden popularity and by his blithe declaration that he will return to the tournament the following year, the R&A ban him from the tournament and have him blocked from membership at all golf courses in the country. Refusing to give up on his new hobby, he continues to train and in following years he re-enters the tournament by assuming a series of fake names and disguises, while attempting to raise his profile by pursuing media appearances. Though he eventually begins to record creditable scores at tournaments, his antics cause Vickers to add him to the list of redundancies and lead Michael to further distance himself from his family. A decade later, Maurice and Jean have been reduced to living in a caravan. Though Gene and James had become disco world champions and achieved the globe-trotting lifestyle Maurice once dreamed of, the decline of disco as a music form means the tournaments they thrived on have now all been abandoned, and they have been left with no source of income. Their return home leads the family to reunite, where Michael criticises them all for their impractical dreams. Close to accepting defeat, Maurice receives a letter from America which informs him that his performances led to the creation of a new golf tournament which can only be won by playing badly. Maurice and his family are flown out in first class and treated as celebrities while Maurice is accorded the honour of being key-note speaker at a meal in his own honour. Michael reconciles with his family and attends the event after he finds that even serious businesspeople now see his step-father not as a figure of humiliation but one of inspiration. ==Cast==