Move over, twigs. It’s Stick season now: SFU golf star tees up in Owen Wilson’s new TV series

Sports

Move over, twigs. It's Stick season now: SFU golf star tees up in Owen Wilson's new TV series

by Robyn Stubbs

Simon Fraser University's Red Leaf golfer Justin Bjornson has made his mark on the course with hole-in-ones and this summer, he's making a name for himself on the small screen.

Here's the hook: Stick, produced by Owen Wilson and streaming now on Apple TV+, is a feel-good sports comedy exploring the hazards and divots of golf and relationships. Bjornson, a key member of the Red Leafs men's golf team, which recently won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Golf Championships, stands in as the swing double for the show's main character, Santi (played by Peter Dager).

"A local coach was the golf advisor on the show, and fortunately, he thought of me," Bjornson, a picture-perfect double for Dager, says. "I've always complained about being short, but this time I fit the height and build of it and everything just kind of worked out. Anyone that knows me knows that I love [the Wilson-starring movie] Cars, and to have my passion of golf and the movie Cars be combined into one thing? Pinch me. This can't be real."

In the show, Wilson plays Pryce Cahill, an over-the-hill, ex-pro golfer whose career prematurely hit the skids 20 years ago. When his marriage fails and he's fired from his mediocre job at an Indiana sporting goods store, Pryce hedges his bets and hopes for an albatross in the form of troubled 17-year-old golf phenom, Santi.

It's giving Ted Lasso, but golf.

This is where fiction meets reality for Bjornson, who plays swing double for Santi, and is himself an up-and-coming golf star. The show shot for five months in and around Vancouver last summer, filled with cameos from golf pros like Collin Morikawa, Keegan Bradley, Max Homa and Wyndham Clark, and broadcast legends including Jim Nantz and Trevor Immelman, Good Good's Matt Scharff, Brad Dalke, Garrett Clark and Dan Rapaport.

And then there is, of course, Wilson (no introduction needed), Judy Greer (Jurassic World, Ant Man), Lili Kay (Your Honor, Yellowstone), Timothy Olyphant (Deadwood, and more recently, Havoc on Netflix), and actor/comedian Marc Maron.

Bjornson's high-energy personality, serious skill and love of the game helped him feel more than comfortable co-mingling among the big names and bright lights of TV show production. As for the golf pros who visited set, that was also surreal, he says.

"I've grown up watching these guys on TV, and I didn't just get to meet them in person: I got to have conversations with them and pick their brains a little bit," says Bjornson. "I even got to play a chipping match with Colin [Morikawa] in between one of the shoots."

Bjornson has a couple more years to sharpen his game on the NCAA circuit before he sets his sights on turning pro. Heading into this third year studying communications, he's embracing every moment of his student athlete life.

"Golf's always seen as like an individual sport, but that's the fun part of college. You get to be a part of a team, get to work out together, travel together," says Bjornson. "You start as teammates, but you become this band of brothers and being able to share moments like this with your team is pretty special."

Of course, he knows a bit of razzing is also coming his way: One of the team's assistant coaches called him "Hollywood" for a while, and he says he's sure that will start up again now that the show is out. But what we really want to know is: Did Bjornson ever get the yips on camera?

"No yips," he smiles. "The golf advisor had me dialed in, and the directors loved how few takes it took to get it right."