The Cup

 

Champ & Runner-Up

Still buds after the fray. 

The Six-Time Champion

Teeing off, Stanley Pesick strikes a classic pose. 

The Six-Time Champion

Pesick steering his hybrid into the last par three at Seascape. 

Waiting to tee off

The Cat and Badman waiting to tee off at Pacific Grove 

Pajaro Valley

Straus hitting up to one of Pajaro Valley's many elevated greens. 

RCB in the dunes

Scenes from the Pacific Grove Municpal Golf Course. July 2006 

Pacific Grove Muni

Note the famous Lighthouse in the distance and the deer back down the fairway. 

Scenes from Pacific Grove, 2006

Last at the eleventh, note deer by the green. 

Scenes from Pacific Grove, 2006

Pesick goes into the eleventh green.... 

Oh No! I Can't Believe It!

Editor's note: A small tournament with its own blog necessitates that we wear many hats. So the editor apologizes in advance if the following account is unnecessarily slanted toward or against the runner-up.

Add the name of Peter Straus to the list of great golf chokers and you'll have summed up the essence of this year's Arbuckle Cup. Move over Phil Mickelson, Jean van de Velde, Greg Norman and Arnold Palmer, you all have company now.

Golf fans all remember how the great Arnold Palmer blew a seven stroke lead on the back nine in the ‘66 U.S. Open in San Francisco; how Norman let a six stroke lead get away in the last round of the ‘96 Masters; how van de Velde let a three stroke lead on Carnoustie’s last hole at the 1999 British Open disappear; and, of course, how Mickelson collapsed on the last hole at this year’s Open at Winged Foot. Now, Peter Straus has joined their ranks.

Straus succeeded in snatching defeat from the jaws of victory at the Pajaro Valley Golf Course on the last hole as he gagged away a two-stroke lead to fall one stroke behind now six-time champion Stanley Pesick. Pesick summed up this year's victory with a terse comment on the 18th green "I can't feel good about this one".

Pesick and Straus had entered the final nine holes battling for the lead. Straus led by one stroke as they made the turn and anything seemed possible. Little did they know how true that would be. They both bogeyed 10. Then Straus hit his best shot of the tournament a beautiful seven wood to 10 feet below a back pin placement on the brutally difficult steep two- tiered green of the par three eleventh. A subsequent par left him two up.

Next it was Pesick's turn as he roared back with great play on twelve (the number one handicap) and thirteen. Then Straus came back and so it went until the 17th hole with Pesick now trailing by two strokes. Straus hit a good drive; Pesick pushed his drive right into the woods. Advantage Straus. But was all for naught; neither player could find the nerve or the skill to do anything on the hole and they both double bogeyed. Clearly though the collapse had begun as Straus had ample opportunity to put the tournament away.

On to 18 where Straus ignoring the advice of his playing partner Rick Last; disdained the use of an iron off the tee; and went to his driver. Big mistake, he popped it up left to 130 yards. Meantime, Pesick thinking he needed birdie to win, hit the drive of the tournament, a striped 260 yard blast right down the middle. But once again both players struggled in and while Pesick did convert what was ultimately a timely and winning bogey, it was Straus's complete collapse to a snowman that handed the Cup over to Arbuckle's greatest champion.

"I don't know what happened" Straus murmured after the tournament, "I never thought I'd lose until I was lining up the last putt and overheard Pesick whisper, if he misses this I win".

"It will take a long time, if ever, to get over this. I still can’t believe it".

It was a strange Arbuckle Cup, the 10th annual event since Pesick and Straus first toured the links at Arbuckle Golf Club and the Colusa Country Club in 1997. On the first day, the Little Cat, Rick Last, roared out on the opening nine to a commanding lead. He was playing the best golf of his life hitting booming drives off the face of his new 9.5° driver. And although he couldn't sustain his excellence, he did retain a share of the first round lead with Straus, one stroke clear of Pesick. All agree that the best player never to have won Arbuckle has rounded a corner and is clearly capable of bringing home the Cup in the near future.

Two-time defending champion Ron Braun had an even more curious tournament. On the Tuesday prior to going to the Monterey Peninsula, he had shot the best round of his life, a sparkling 84 at Tilden Park Golf Course in Berkeley. Yet, golf being the strange game that it is he never came close to finding that form or consistency in the tournament.

The playing may have been uneven, but the courses were beautiful and perfectly chosen by this year's coordinator, Stanley Pesick. The stately Seascape Golf Course in Aptos, the vastly under-rated Pajaro Valley, and the beautiful Pacific Grove Municipal Golf Links were all spectacular as was the weather.

A fine time was had by all, well, almost by all. The great collapse of 2006 will live long in the annals of Arbuckle Cup lore and will certainly dominate the thoughts of all players in the future.

The Cup Chase 2006

 

The Foursome, 2006

 

Arbuckle X, Scenes from '06

Straus, before the fall..... 

Scenes from Arbuckle X, 2006

Stanley Pesick, Six-time Champion, blasts out 

Scenes from Arbuckle X 2006

Badman Braun from Motown 

Scenes from Arbuckle X 2006

The The Little Cat tees off 

Arbuckle Cup – July 2006

Tournament Program

Travel Times
RCB – Arrives SFO Monday, July 10, 9:50 pm - trying to change for an earlier arrival (SLP to pick up)
LC - Arrives SFO Tuesday, July 11, 1:32 PM (SLP and RCB to pick up)
Commisch – Arrives Berkeley – TBD

The Golf
Wednesday – July 12
Depart Berkeley for Seascape Golf Club - 6:45 AM
Practice round #1 – Seascape Golf Club (9:22 tee time)
Practice round #2 – Pajaro Valley Golf Club (3:30 tee time)

Thursday – July 13
Arbuckle round #1 – Seascape Golf Club (8:37 tee time)
Team competition – Pacific Grove Golf Links (TBD tee time)

Friday – July 14
Arbuckle round #2 – Pajaro Valley Golf Club (9:00 AM tee time)
Return to Berkeley for championship dinner – site TBD

Saturday – July 15
LC – departs SFO 6:40 AM
RCB – departs SFO 10:50 PM

Commisch – return plans TBD


Accomodations
Tuesday and Friday
Chez Pesick/Barclay

Wednesday and Thursday
Best Western Seacliff Inn, Aptos, CA
http://www.seacliffinn.com/home13.htm
$95/night for each room with two double beds (including breakfast)
@ businessman rate (bring business cards)

Latest Odds - Update

Ron Braun, 4-1: Holding steady.

Stan Pesick, 5-1: A remarkable round at Callippe Preserve, a new course, with a 134 slope has lowered the odds on the Cup returning to Stanley.

Rick Last, 8-1: Nothing new to report.

Peter Straus, 24-1: Since Pesick went up; someone had to go down.

Arbuckle X, Current Odds

Ron Braun, 4-1: The two time defending champ has been playing some of the best golf of his life. A new swing; a personal trainer; who would bet against him?

Stan Pesick, 6-1: The five time winner has been playing well, as always, but will his low handicap be too much to overcome?

Rick Last, 8-1: The Little Cat, aka the best player never to win Arbuckle, has been honing his game. His new driver and a remarkably confident mien have him primed to make a run deep into the tournament.

Peter Straus, 22-1: Straus is nursing a devastating elbow injury that has kept him off the course for over three weeks. He is currently eyeing a July 1st return to the links. Will Straus be able to shake the rust in Monterey? Tiger wasn't at Winged Foot.

Arbuckle X 2006 Takes Shape

Arbuckle X High Lord Stanley Pesick appears to have settled on some of the courses for the upcoming 2006 Arbuckle Cup. Although nothing has been etched in concrete, it looks like the main venues will be Seascape Golf Club in Aptos, California, and the venerable PajaroValley in Monterey. The tournament will also be visiting what has become known as the poor man's Pebble Beach, Pacific Grove Municipal Golf Course.

Seascape: Located on the coastal highlands of Monterey, Seascape Golf Club invites you to enjoy the best that golf has to offer. Indulge yourself in the grace and beauty of one of California's most esteemed courses and discover your game in the heart of Northern California. (photos above)

Pajaro Valley: This is an old course with large Monterey Cypress trees lining the spacious, rolling fairways. The elevated tees offer scenic views of the Pajaro Valley. The greens are small in size and medium to fast in speed. Water hazards (four ponds) come into play on three holes. A challenging hole is #12, a 420-yard, par 4, with a triple-tiered green. This course was the home of former U.S. Open champion Olin Dutra, who closed his career teaching here. Robert Muir Graves redesigned the course in 1965 to give it a more mature venue.

Pacific Grove: Pacific Grove Golf Links offers spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean, Lovers Point, Point Pinos, Crespi Pond, and Asilomar's natural sand dunes. Originally designed by Chandler Egan in 1932, the first nine holes takes you through the forested areas of Pacific Grove. Egan's nine takes you through an inland terrain and reflects much of the charm of an English rural course done in the old style.

The back nine was designed by Jack Neville, original designer of the Pebble Beach Golf Links.

The holes are unpretentious, reminiscent of an era when the 'par fours' were sometimes less than 300 yards and the 'par threes' could be contemplated by the common folk. There are not many bunkers, and the greens are small.

It was recently ranked by Zagat Survey as one of America's Best Golf Courses. The 18-hole golf course features a restaurant as well as a golf pro shop.