From the Rough

Plot

Catana Starks, a professional swim coach gives up on coaching ladies' swimming. She later asks for a men's golf team to compete in the championship games, so her boss, Kendrick Paulsen assigns her. Five young men, Edward from London, Ji-Kyung (nicknamed Young Ji) from Korea, Craig from Georgia, Cameron from Australia and Bassam from Paris all begin their first session with Coach Starks and it is proven to be difficult. Edward is attracted to fellow student, Stacey who was coached by Starks in ladies' swimming. When the first game turns out to be disastrous, Coach Starks confronts all of her team members and encourages them to be better before the championship games take place. Craig's golfing skills turn out to be difficult when performing in front of his team mates, so Starks helps him with his communication skills when hitting. All five men attend a private party, where Edward is upset when Stacey breaks up with him after she received advice from Starks, who brands Edward as a criminal with bad qualifications. Bassam takes his anger out on one of the party members, so Cameron assures him that they could all be kicked off the team if he is aggressive towards others. Edward confronts Starks about her life and she realizes that her team means so much to her, so she gets back on board and speaks to all five members individually. When speaking with Edward, Starks reveals something personal about her past; she had a boyfriend, who proposed to her when she was competing in a golf tournament, but sadly let him down by rejecting his marriage proposal. He then left. Starks makes Edward see that she didn't want the same thing happening to Stacey. One Thursday, Edward, Craig, Bassam, Cameron and Young Ji all go to Starks' place for dinner. There, she reveals to all of them that she will be departing from her job after the tournament, but decides to make a plan so that her team will win the championship. Ken is impressed with Starks' work with the men's golf team and sees something positive happening. At the championship during the first round, Craig chokes when he is manipulated and bullied by one of the other golf members from another team he is competing against. Cameron suffers an allergic reaction to some shellfish, which means he cannot compete in the final rounds of the championship, so Starks makes her four finalists realize how important it is to perform in front of the other schools. Craig's communication with golfing turns out to be a success when he puts and is now in the lead of winning first place. When one of the members is trying to putt, Edward distracts him, using a technique he learnt from Cameron.As a result the team comes in first place.

Cast

Production

Executive producer Michael J. Critelli discovered the story that is the basis for the film in 2004, and spent over five years and "several hundred thousand dollars" acquiring the rights to film it and getting a screenplay, which was co-written by his son Michael A. Critelli.

Principal photography began in New Orleans on October 4, 2010, using the Dillard University campus as the main location. Principal photography was completed in early 2011.

On July 1, 2011, the film had a preview screening at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans; it was also shown on Labor Day weekend at the "2011 Allstate Tom Joyner Family Reunion" in Orlando, FL and October 5, 2011 at the International Black Film Festival in Nashville, Tennessee; It was originally scheduled for a February 3, 2012 theatrical release