Top golf movies: Like a guide to life

If life is like a game of golf - and heaven knows every golfer says it is - then golf movies are like guides to life. Of course.

In honor of the U.S. Open, here are 10 notable films of fairways, fat shots and "Fore!," listed chronologically and rated on our five-point scale: Hole-in-one, Eagle, Birdie, Par, Subpar.

"Follow the Sun" (1951)

RATING: Birdie

STARS: Glenn Ford, Anne Baxter

PLOT: Biopic of legendary golfer Ben Hogan, who, after suffering from a terrible auto accident, came back to win more championships.

"Pat and Mike" (1952)

RATING: Hole-in-one

STARS: Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy

PLOT: In the seventh Hepburn-Tracy pairing, sportswoman Pat nearly wins the amateur women's national golf championship, prompting sports agent Mike to represent her. They verbally spar all the rest of the film.

"The Caddy" (1953)

RATING: Par

STARS: Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Donna Reed

PLOT: Too-nervous-to-play golf-wiz Lewis turns caddie in order to mentor Martin. A middling middle film in the team's oeuvre; nonetheless, it premiered the Oscar-nominated song "That's Amore."

"Babe" (1975 TV-movie)

RATING: Eagle

STARS: Susan Clark, Alex Karras

PLOT: Clark won an Emmy as Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias, generally considered the greatest female golfer. Clark later married co-star Karras, who played Babe's husband.

"Caddyshack" (1980)

RATING: Eagle

STARS: Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Bill Murray, Michael O'Keefe

PLOT: Earning tepid reviews in its time, director Harold Ramis' first feature - a raucous comedy about caddie O'Keefe showing up a bunch of country club swells - has become a cult classic.

"Caddyshack II" (1988)

RATING: Subpar

STARS: Jackie Mason, Robert Stack, Jessica Lundy, Dan Aykroyd

PLOT: The Bizarro World version of the above.

"Happy Gilmore" (1996)

RATING: Par

STARS: Adam Sandler, Christopher McDonald, Carl Weathers, Bob Barker

PLOT: In Sandler's second star vehicle, he's the titular lout who brings a hockey sensibility to the green.

"Tin Cup" (1996)

RATING: Subpar

STARS: Kevin Costner, Rene Russo, Don Johnson, Cheech Marin

PLOT: Filmmaker Ron Shelton and star Costner couldn't replicate their sports hit "Bull Durham" with this story of a pro-turned-caddie who tries to win Russo from smarmy golfer Johnson.

"The Legend of Bagger Vance" (2000)

RATING: Par

STARS: Will Smith, Matt Damon, Charlize Theron,

PLOT: A magical caddie (Smith) helps a traumatized World War I vet (Damon) get his swing back. Set in a shiny-clean Depression-era South with no racial problems.

"The Greatest Game Ever Played" (2005)

RATING: Par

STARS: Shia LaBeouf, Elias Koteas, Stephen Dillane, Josh Flitter

PLOT: Working-class Francis Ouimet (LaBeouf) breaks the class barrier to compete against Harry "The Stylist" Vardon (Dillane) in the 1913 U.S. Open. *