Happy Gilmore is back on the fairway in "Happy Gilmore 2," a nostalgia-fueled, celeb-packed legacy sequel to Adam Sandler's 1996 fan favorite.

If you take away the dozens of cameos — from professional golfers, pro wrestlers, rappers, Sandler family members, "SNL" stars, returning "Happy Gilmore" cast members and various other friends of Sandler — there isn't a whole lot there. But it's a harmless return to the links, if a disappointment to anyone looking for anything more from this round of 18.

It's been years since Happy Gilmore, the wannabe hockey player turned golf legend, has been back on the golf course. He's now an alcoholic who hides booze in any substance with a hollow center, and he's been in a hole of depression since accidentally killing his wife with an errant tee shot. (Sorry Julie Bowen, but she's back in flashbacks.)

Happy's now a single father of five, four rambunctious young men and a daughter (Sandler's real-life daughter Sunny), who is an aspiring ballet dancer. She needs $300,000 to attend ballet school, so Happy has to pick up his driver and return to what he does best.

First he has to get himself cleaned up, which means trips to an AA-like group, led by his old rival Hal L. (Ben Stiller). And he's being courted by Frank Manatee (Benny Safdie), the proprietor of a new golf league, Maxi Golf, which promises more action by making the sport sexier. (Think LIV Golf's challenging of the PGA Tour.)

So what of Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald), Happy's former tournament adversary? He's been locked up in an insane asylum but is freed when Manatee lets him out, in the hopes of having him challenge Happy once again.

Elsewhere, scenes seem specifically written to give whatever celeb was on set on any given day a laugh line. Eminem plays Donald Jr., the son of the heckler who kept calling Happy "jackass" in the first movie, one of several descendants of original characters. There are also next-generation versions of Happy's mentor Chubbs (Lavell Crawford plays the son of Carl Weathers' character), and Richard Kiel's kindly but menacing Mr. Larson (Boban Marjanović plays Larson's son). Meanwhile, there are at least three references to the late Bob Barker, who memorably punched out Happy in the original.

"Happy Gilmore 2" is one of those Sandler projects that seems like the experience on set for Sandler's friends and family trumped whatever was happening in front of the cameras, and it certainly looks like Bad Bunny, Travis Kelce, John Daly, Margaret Qualley, Guy Fieri, Post Malone and the rest of the gang had fun making the movie. Director Kyle Newacheck (he also made Sandler's "Murder Mystery") seems like his chief role was that of party host, and the script by Sandler and his frequent partner Tim Herlihy doesn't push any harder than making the first joke that comes to mind and moving forward.

The original "Happy Gilmore" became such a beloved touchstone because it had a serious zany streak running underneath its core of sweetness; it was a key building block in Sandler's eventual big-screen superstardom. "Happy Gilmore 2" is a laid-back round of golf with pals where everyone stops keeping score after the first few holes, and for this mode of Sandler, that's par for the course.

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'HAPPY GILMORE 2'

Grade: C+

MPA rating: PG-13 (for strong language, crude/sexual material, partial nudity and some thematic material)

Running time: 1:54

How to watch: Netflix

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