Looking back down the fairway at the eighteenth at Leslie Park.

2009 Summary

They stood all square on the 53^rd and penultimate hole of the 2009 Arbuckle Invitational Tournament. Peter Straus and Ron Braun had battled throughout the day; Straus coming from way behind and Braun finally finding his game, just in time on the fifteenth hole. They had both bogied 15 and 16 and stood, 128 yards from the hole, staring across a pond with a weathered gray barn behind them on the 17^th, the signature hole at Leslie Park Municipal Golf Course in Ann Arbor, Michigan which had just been named the premier municipal track in Michigan by the July 2009 issue of Golf Digest.

Straus went first and pushed an 8 iron high onto the hill to the right of the green. Braun went next and hit a magnificent six iron to 8 feet below the hole. It was, perhaps, the greatest clutch shot in Arbuckle’s storied thirteen year history. Never mind that Straus played a good chip to ten feet and that his par put just slithered right of the hole. Braun’s birdie putt also went awry; he now had a precious one stroke lead.

The battle until the fifteenth had not been a two way race; defending champion Rick “The Little Cat” Last had also stood his ground in a display of golf that frankly exceeded his winning final round of the preceding year. For Last had battled Braun even up and stood the same two shot deficit on the tee at sixteen that he had started the day with. Last split the fairway with his drive and was a mere 258 yards (or so) from the par five sixteenth’s green. His caddy/advisor/cartmate Straus recommended a five iron and it turned out to be a disastrous suggestion because Last pushed it far right – recovery was nearly impossible and after a great run the Cat was kaput.

Straus had started the day a whopping 12 strokes behind Braun as the Bad Man had played a self- proclaimed best round of the year, a 92, at Leslie Park on the first day. Straus had countered with a 94

(including the Arbuckle Cup’s first-ever eagle at the par 5 third hole). Day two saw Braun card a 100 at Stonebridge, with Straus coming in with a disappointing 103; thus setting up the final day’s action.

The final day was all Straus’ until Braun’s heroics. A birdie on the par four third hole – easiest hole on the course – started the run. He finally caught Braun with a par on the 12^th and another birdie on the tricky par 4 13^th. Straus’ run may have ended when his curling par put on 14 just lipped out to the visible relief and audible delight of the Motown representative. But it wasn’t until Braun’s great shot on 17 that his lead was reestablished.

The eighteenth saw Braun hit down the middle and arrive at the par four in three. After his drive, Straus stood 159 yards away on the right edge of the first cut of rough. His five iron came up just short and trickled up against the lip of bunker guarding the right of the green. With no choice but to blast out, Straus was left with a short chip for par as Braun easily and steadily two-putted. Straus tapped in for his bogie but it was over despite having shot an 87 – the lowest final round in the tournament’s history.

In the interest of history one must acknowledge that Stanley Pesick was in the throes of a mysterious swing ailment that left him far in arrears. His 15 handicap, which set him up for his fall, was but a sad memory of past performances. Yet Pesick still managed the low gross over three days – a heroic accomplishment in its own right. Better yet, Pesick maintained good humor and wonderful sportsmanship throughout the three day event – avidly pulling for each of his competitors. Mr. Pesick’s positive attitude toward his fellows is what the Arbuckle Cup and ultimately golf is all about.

Yet the weekend ultimately belonged to Ron Braun who is in the midst of a three wins in four years run. The highlight, of course, was his shot on 17 but throughout the Bad Man had the steadiest putter and the best short game. He obviously coasted a bit on Friday (the last round); but when the chips were down he rose to the occasion, finishing bogie, bogie, par, bogie, which given the searing pressure of Arbuckle is winning golf and worthy of the 2009 Cup.

Arbuckle XIII Courses

Leslie Park

Stonebridge GC

Arbuckle XIII

The 2009 Arbuckle Invitational (the thirteenth in its storied history) will be held over three days in early July in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Play will be held on three courses including the world famous University of Michigan Golf Course. The UMGC was designed in the late 1920s by Alister MacKenzie, one of golf's all-time greatest architects. The course officially opened in the spring of 1931 and immediately drew praise as one of the finest in America. At the time of its opening, the University Golf Course became just the fourth course to be located on a college campus. The U-M Golf Course is one of only six MacKenzie-designed golf courses in the United States, including the famed Augusta National.

MacKenzie, Golf magazine's "Golf Architect of the Century" for the first 100 years of golf in America, brought his passion for the sport and of old St. Andrews, Scotland, to Ann Arbor. A multi-million dollar renovation completed in the spring of 1994 restored the grandeur of the University Golf Course to the ranks of MacKenzie's other classics. Orchestrating the restoration was Arthur Hills, a Michigan graduate and one of the foremost golf course architects in America. As an admirer of MacKenzie, Hills understood his focus was not a new course in Ann Arbor, but a return to MacKenzie's intent.

The renovation included the return of original bunkers, improved tree planting and placement, construction of stately tee areas and an improved irrigation system.
The other courses to be used will include Leslie Park, a public course opened in 1967 and Stonebridge GC, built in 1991, a demanding track filled with water hazards and other menaces to a golfer’s sanity.

Interestingly, Leslie Park and Stonebridge were also designed by Arthur Hills, a world renowned golf architect who has designed hundreds of legendary courses both in the U.S and abroad.