There will never be enough videos of athletes in their prime donning the hair and makeup of a much older version of themselves and then pranking unsuspecting victims.
Two-time world long drive champion and Cleveland Golf staffer Jamie Sadlowski went viral last year with the first iteration of Grandpa Jamie, a prank that saw Sadlowski head to a local driving range with his grandson in tow, but the folks at Cleveland stepped their game up for Grandpa’s return.
Promoting the Launcher HB, Cleveland’s latest driver offering, Grandpa Jamie has ditched his grandson this year to bring along “Grandpa Jake,” a slightly disguised Peter Jacobsen.
Long Drive Champ Sadlowski Goes Undercover As Grandpa Jamie
The odd couple clumsily makes their way through a golf retail store, eventually taking some cash off of an overzealous patron who ignorantly took a $20 bet that he could outdrive Grandpa Jamie. From there, Jamie and Jake headed to a nearby golf course where the “87-year-old” Jamie wowed range-goers with his ridiculous drives.
The first installation of Grandpa Jamie has garnered over 3.5 million views to date.
Following the explosion of popularity, Sadlowski spoke with GolfDigest.com’s E. Michael Johnson as part of the advertising campaign.
“Cleveland had the idea and they rolled around with it a bit with my agent,” Sadlowski said. “When they finally came to terms they pretty much told me what we were going to do and to start preparing. I didn’t have much say, but I thought it would be fun. And it was once I got out of my shell.
“It’s kind of fun being that person that can say anything they want to and have a free pass. So I used that up a little bit. No repercussions or anything? Yeah, I liked that. I had a couple vodkas to start the day to calm my nerves because I’m shy and quiet and for this to happen I needed a little liquid courage to loosen me up. By the middle of the shoot, I was feeling pretty good and let’s just say there’s some pretty classic stuff that ended up on the cutting room floor that I probably shouldn’t have said.”
