Continuity mistake: On the last hole of the match, Hagen's putt goes 5-6 feet by. However, on the next scene is shown making a 1 foot tap-in.
Factual error: When the second round of the tournament is starting and Bagger Vance is telling Rannulph Junuh about 'the field', just after Bobby Jones has taken his tee-shot, Bagger hands Junuh a ball and tee. The tee is a red plastic 'castle' style tee. Apart from being illegal in tournament play, I'm pretty sure they weren't around in the 1920's.
Continuity mistake: When they start the 18th hole of the last round, the sun is just starting to set (over the Atlantic Ocean, no less). When they get to their tee shots to hit their second shots, it is already pitch black. This could only be a matter of couple of minutes to walk to their next shot. And, yet, at the very end when Will Smith hears the roar of the final shot, he's walking along the beach into the setting sun? (01:52:10)
Continuity mistake: At the very beginning of the movie the old Hardy Greaves is teeing off. When the camera is on him he casts a long shadow, but when the camera looks down the fairway the shadows of the trees look as if it is around noon. (00:01:30)
Continuity mistake: On Hagen's chip from just off the green on the 18th hole, the ball lands about 4 feet past the hole. When he takes the final shot, somehow it becomes a tap in. (01:49:45)
Factual error: In the scene when it is raining, Will Smith is sitting by a shed and the kid is under a tree. The John Deere tractor in the shed has a seat with a backrest on it. This kind of seat was not used on a tractor until the 1950s. (00:44:10)
Continuity mistake: At the start of the big tournament Matt Damon hits a ball into a sand trap. The first view of the traps you can see the ball fully. As they get closer the ball appears to be buried in the trap. Then just before Damon hits the ball it is no longer buried. (00:55:10)
Continuity mistake: When Adele is speaking to the men from the town at the beginning, telling them about the golf tournament, her hair changes three or four times, from over her face, to near her ears.
Continuity mistake: When Junuh is selecting a club to try out his swing, just before meeting Bagger for the first time, he selects a wood but when he actually starts hitting the club is an iron. (00:31:05)
Plot hole: Junuh gets the lowest score on the 17th hole in the final round, which puts all the players at 'even'. It should therefore have been his honour 18th tee. He actually tees off last, which would indicate that Jones and Hagan had bettered (or at least matched) his score on the 17th.
Revealing mistake: During the war flashback there is a newspaper photograph with Captain Junuh on the shoulders of Savannah's young men. When the camera zooms into his face you can see it's someone else's, only in close-up it switches to Matt Damon's. This is surprising because in all other newspaper pictures Matt Damon is nicely worked in. (00:06:15)
Continuity mistake: When Junuh drives down to Krewe Island he is cheered by the people on the road. A number of times the camera is relatively close on the driving Junuh, and the people he is just passing by are missing in the background. (00:42:40)
Continuity mistake: When Bagger Vance is explaining what it means to see the course, he tells Junuh to watch Jones. Jones performs some airshots against the audience, then in a split second, he makes an airshot against the course, then back to the audience. He sure is fast.
Factual error: On the final hole of play, Damon should have placed his ball back to its original position and taken a one stroke penalty. He did not replace the ball to its original penalty, so he would have been deemed to playing the ball from the wrong position, which is another penalty stroke.
Continuity mistake: There is a scene when Charlize Theron is talking to Matt Damon while he is sitting in a big stuffed chair. When we see him from the front the top of his head is even with the top of the chair. When we see him from behind, his head is above the chair and his shoulders are even with the top of the chair. The camera angles keep going from front to back and it really looks bad. (00:29:20)
Continuity mistake: After Junuh makes a hole-in-one the townspeople rush to the course. Before Hardy's father rushes off too he is shown leaning on his broom, with his hand holding the broom in three different ways up and down the handle with changing angles of the camera. (01:24:00)
Continuity mistake: When Junuh kisses Adele at the big party outside by the dancefloor, their heads keep changing positions. First, Junuhs head is on the left side of Adeles, then on the right, then back to left.
Continuity mistake: After the first round Adele and Junuh are sitting on a bench talking. Adele's hairdo keeps changing from shot to shot, with an especially unruly curl sticking out on the right side for a second. (01:05:20)
Revealing mistake: Junuh is sitting on the bench just after round one. Adele comes over towards him and sits down, but by doing so she reveals a pair of trainers.
Continuity mistake: When Hardy comes to talk Junuh into participating in the tournament Junuh is playing poker. While he is talking to Hardy they are not playing, but throughout the scene cards keep appearing and disappearing on the table. (00:24:05)
Answer: There are many reasons that known actors appear in movies and are uncredited. Cameo appearances often go un-credited. Actors sometimes do a cameo if they are friends with the director or the other stars. It can add an unexpected surprise for the audience. There are also contract and payment issues if an actor receives billing in the credit. Jack Lemmon, who was the narrator for the story, may have preferred not being credited. He was certainly a big enough star that if he wanted to be listed in the credits, he would have received proper billing.
raywest ★