Is Stick really the Ted Lasso of golf? 

Apple TV has a new show for 2025, Stick starring Owen Wilson as a washed up professional golfer, Pryce Cahill, who discovers a prodigy in Santi Wheeler played by relative newcomer Peter Dager. The duo hit the road with a cast of colorful characters trying to qualify Santi for ‘the big show’ the PGA Tour.

Many viewers have deemed the show the “Ted Lasso of golf” but is it that good? 

The Conservative Critic Asks: Is it entertaining? Does it have artistic/intellectual value? And is it liberal propaganda? 

The Conservative Critic meter check: Stick 

Overall rating: Timely, relaxing 

Stick is the Ted Lasso of gold in that the pacing and themes are sort of similar and that it’s enjoyable in a quiet, relaxing and charming kind of way. It’s not similar in plot or characters or even really themes. 

Stick is timely in that golf is hugely on the rise in the United States. Since 2019, golf on-course participation is up 38% and its up 5% since just last year. Signature golf events (like the Masters and other PGA championships) have viewership up significantly with CBS sports reporting a 13% increase year over year crediting digital platforms and focus on storylines like that of Rory McIlroy going for his Masters win for his career Grand Slam 

Stick capitalizes on the popularity of golf by telling a story about an unlikely golf prodigy and a mentor who looks the part but lost his swing. It’s a story both of the accessibility of golf (anyone could be the next Tiger) and conversely how much the sport relies on mental resilience. While its not heavy on technical golf or insider info, it is a story that celebrates golf which will be pleasing to any average player or fan but not so much that it chases off a viewer who has never played. 

Like golf, it has the right amount of tension to make it enjoyable but is largely very soft hearted and relaxing with high financial stakes and moderate emotional ones. 

I suppose in order to make a traditionally very conservative sport into something more Hollywood liberal friendly one of the characters on the golf journey is “gender queer” meaning “THEY” do not identify as either female or male (or they identify as both idk). Its annoying because its so shoehorned into the story but its not particularly distracting considering the character presents and acts as a woman the entire time.

Overall its a great offering from Apple TV and may be one of the better new shows of 2025.

Is it entertaining? 

Rating: Yes, easy watch

Stick follows a match by match format where the crew advance the plot by attending each next sporting event. This is a common formula for sports based TV shows (and movies) and is why sports work pretty well for narrative. Much like following real life sports, its easy to follow the advancement of the story in Stick. 

There are emotional stakes enough in the story to keep viewers invested in Pryce and Santi but even though some of them are fairly heavy, the show never really takes itself to a very dark place (even in its darkest moments). It makes for a relaxing show to watch because the viewers is never confronted with devastation or emotional jump scares but is invested in a story that is so full of heart and rich character development that they can really care about what happens. Viewers will get into the story easily and want to know what happens next. 

Does it have artistic/intellectual value? 

Rating: Good performances and timely subject

Stick is Wilson’s best in a long time. He gets to play his normal, plucky, morally gray with a heart of gold character that he does so well and audiences have seen in movies like Shanghai Noon and Wedding Crashers but he also has some gravity in the backstory of how he came to be a washed up professional golf player. It’s easy to root for Wilson as Pryce and as a veteran lead, he brings necessary credibility to the show. Dager is great as the angsty and petulant teen prodigy who doesn’t fully appreciate the gift that’s been given to him. Dealing with his own hang ups and back story, Dager’s Santi is easy to forgive even when he’s being a very typical teenage problem child. The leads are joined by Mariana Trevino (A Man Called Otto) who plays Santi’s mom, Elena, Marc Maron as Pryce’s long time friend and RV chauffeur, Mitts and Lili Kay (Yellowstone) as gender queer caddy and Santi’s crush, Zero. All give strong supporting performances, carrying untold but clearly defined backstories that give a richness to the character driven plot. Timothy Olyphant and Judy Greer also have small but significant parts to play and do as they always do which is elevate the material. 

The story is simple and well done for a TV show with some very limited clunky dialogue mostly when the show is trying to highlight how woke they are with their gender queer character. There is no ground broken and it isn’t a show or story that will go down in history (much unlike Ted Lasso) but it is good nonetheless. 

Is it liberal propaganda? 

Rating: Gender queer supporting character

Golf tends to be a sport enjoyed by conservatives (not exclusively of course). It’s a game laden with traditional values and history and for whatever reason, those have stuck. 

So when Stick adds a gender-queer person to serve as the caddy and crush for the lead character it’s not completely surprising. Hollywood would need a liberal edge to make their golf story unproblematic to their peers and to be fair it also does add some colorful clash to the expectation of golf and the reality for our band of misfits which is a recurring theme in the show. 

The character, Zero, presents as a woman and lives entirely as a woman with the most “masculine” thing about “them” being very ugly baggy clothing. The actress in real life is also “gender queer” using the pronouns “she/they.” 

People should live whatever life they want to live but there is significant dialogue in the show chastising the use of wrong pronouns and celebrating the “understanding” of Zero’s gender identity. So it is definitely LGBTQIA+ propaganda. It definitely predicates the idea that we all must be slaves to someone’s personal life preferences and if you get them wrong you’re a bad person. 

I don’t think viewers will find this very distracting. 

Conclusion 

Stick is an easy show to like and a relaxing watch for those looking for something new this year. Its not the new Ted Lasso but it similarly provides characters with a lot of heart (even the gender queer ones) and a unique sports story to keep interest.