Netflix's thirst for awards deepens after picking up "Academy-qualified" documentary

Saying it can quit picking up awards-eligible exclusive programming rights any time, and that it just needs one quick hit of Oscar buzz to make it through to the weekend, Netflix is feeding its growing awards addiction by picking up another documentary, which it assures us it can totally handle.

Just a day after it was announced that Netflix was bidding for the rights to Egyptian revolution documentary The Square, the company has scored another non-fiction film, The Short Game. The documentary follows eight golfers under the age of 7, as they prepare for and compete in the World Championship of Junior Golf, in the hopes that one of them could become the next Tiger Woods. (In the golf sense, not the adultery and car-crashing sense.)

The Short Game has already had the limited theatrical release that qualifies it for the Oscar nomination Netflix so badly craves. And until that nomination comes through, it can provide the sweet methadone of a SXSW Audience Award, which it won earlier this year. Meanwhile, some worry that the Best Documentary category might just be a gateway drug—or as Netflix calls it, a "based on your interest in" recommendation—to stronger categories. Best Cinematography? Best Original Screenplay? Best Supporting Actress? Where will it end, Netflix? And how many people will you hurt before you hit rock bottom?