An Inside Look At An Amputee Golfer's Mindset On and Off The Course

I met Andrew through social media in late 2022. I had been looking to make a golf video for probably a year at that point and just couldn’t find the perfect subject. Surprisingly, I actually found Andrew on Tiktok. He creates really cool videos demonstrating how he plays golf as a one armed golfer. I was blown away and noticed that he was also in the Philadelphia area. I commented on the video asking if he’d want to make something together and within a few minutes I had response!

Over the next few months we worked together to identify how to best tell his story. He was completely into whatever I wanted to create. We finally got together in late March to shoot his interview and some fun, stylized b-roll which you can catch in the trailer & full documentary. We decided to shoot it at Blu Bear Studios which is based in Norristown, PA. They have an amazing white cyc wall which made is a breeze to move around and add some cool lighting effects. On top of that, we had quite the crew with us at the studio which really allowed me to focus on directing and making sure each shot was exactly how I imagined.

After nailing the interview, we set out to gather b-roll at the amazing St. David’s Golf Club. We couldn’t have had a better course to shoot the main b-roll at. As you can see in the video, St. David’s is absolutely beautiful and offers a ton of different features for its members.

There were a few reasons I originally wanted to make a golf film. First and foremost, I’m a huge fan of golf. It’s one of my biggest passions and I love that it makes me focus on what’s right in front of me while on the course. Aside from that, I thought there was a good opportunity for me and the crew to get creative when it came to showing off the sights and sounds you might experience on a course.

Golf really challenges players to have a certain mental fortitude if you want to get better. This was something that Andrew and I talked a lot about on our initial meeting. When you watch the full video, you’ll immediately notice that Andrew has an insane work ethic and mindset whether it’s on or off the course. That’s something I wanted to emphasize when telling his story. There’s a reason he succeeds as a golfer, and an amputee and it all comes back to the way he carries himself. I don’t think I could’ve found a better person to document. Huge thanks to Andrew for allowing me to tell his story!

For all of you gear heads, we shot this on the Red Komodo along with the Vazen 1.8x Anamorphic set. We rented these from Lensrentals (Affiliate Link) who really hooked it up for this project. Can’t thank them enough for allowing us to take this kit out. Their generosity allowed us to spend more of the budget on other parts of the film and add a few crew members to the first shoot day.

Here’s a link to the teaser: Andrew Austen Teaser