Amateur golfers are often spotted wearing a frustrated scowl. A sand trap here, a bogey there. It’s a bit like the road to love — impossible to master, but that never stops anybody from returning to the “game” to try and try again. If Ted Lasso tried to build new forms of community amidst the isolation and loneliness of the pandemic, Apple TV+’s new show, Stick, is the new underdog of television, with characters who are charmingly winsome. Owen Wilson leads in this light-as-a-feather sports comedy, cleverly injecting his wry, funny act with just the right dosage of asperity.

The golf course dominates the backdrop but never the storyline, which depends on romance, vinegary exchanges and, most importantly, celebrating the idea of a second chance at life.

The creation of Jason Keller (Ford v Ferrari, 2019), Stick’s heart is occupied by former golfer Pryce “Stick” Cahill (Owen Wilson), whose promising career had a meltdown on live television many years ago. Ready to sign his divorce papers (Judy Greer plays Amber-Linn), the directionless soul works at a local golfing range where he discovers Santi (Peter Dager) who can hit 200 yards… 250 yards… nah, 300 yards… without wiping the smirk off his face. Pryce’s only well-wisher is his best friend and caddy, Mitts (Marc Maran).

Pryce has never seen a better swing than that of Santi. Taking him under his wings will offer the former golfer a stab at redemption. There’s a hiccup or two — the first is Santi’s mother Elena (Mariana Trevino), who asks for $100,000, besides the opportunity to tag along, and the girl Santi falls for — the rebellious Zero (Lilli Kay).

If coach Ted Lasso was clueless about English football, Pryce is fully aware of every line written in Rules of Golf, yet he doesn’t make the viewer thumb through Google results for golfing terms. It’s about golf without being about golf. Every character tries to win the audience over through sheer goodness of heart, particularly Pryce with his ever-present smile and patience. “I used to think she liked me, but she loves you,” Pryce tells Santi about the golf course.

Over the decades, Owen Wilson has proved he can be golden, breezy, cliched and dry, depending on the director. In Stick, he is laid-back, chill to the point of revisiting Dudeism, popularised by none other than Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski. At times, one wonders if Snoop Dogg would suddenly appear to torch an enormous blunt with Pryce. The Oscar-nominated actor ensures Pryce appears to be someone pummeled by time, but the punches have failed to rob him of cheer. How can one hate a character whose business card reads “the Pryce is right”?

Every character tries to bounce off Pryce’s easy-going nature as if the former golfer is a storehouse of encouragement. Golf is indeed a metaphor of life, each time Pryce opens his mouth.

An important layer of the story involves Gen Z characters Santi and Zero. Santi can “nuke it off the tee”, according to Mitts, so it’s up to Pryce to nurture his temper when the going gets tough. Pryce also tries to get through to Zero, who asks him to stop “prescribing late stage capitalist ideology to your great brown cash cow”. It’s always debatable if the swing is right when Hollywood descends on the links. Yet, the directors of the show manage to win viewers with how a well-manicured golf course is depicted — soaring drones and point-of-view shots.

Plus, there are some brilliant cameos from golf superstars like Collin Morikawa, Keegan Bradley, Max Homa and Wyndham Clark. There are also appearances by broadcasters Jim Nantz and Trevor Immelman, Good Good’s Matt Scharff, Brad Dalke and Garrett Clark, as well as golf enthusiast Dan Rapaport. They lend authenticity and something for golfing enthusiasts to look forward to.

Sport in dramas can be tricky, often taking viewers into a cerebral zone. Stick gets the grouping of characters right, and Wilson is at his most relaxed. And let’s not forget the brilliant soundtrack to the 10-part series, which premieres tonight.

Golf addicts and experts who take the game seriously, as well as non-golfers who prefer their humour light, Stick wins over everyone by using Pryce’s charisma and niceness. It’s the kind of show that makes one revisit books like Paul Gallico’s Golf is a Friendly Game and P.G. Wodehouse’s The Clicking of Cuthbert.