Friday, July 13, 2012

Worth Talking About


July 12, 2012. -- In the cosmic scheme of things, fifteen years is but a blink of the eye. But for an aging band of old friends from Detroit who date their friendship back to the early 60's, fifteen years is quite an accomplishment -- especially when one considers their annual golf tournament -- the Arbuckle Invitational is now fifteen years old.


Fifteen years. The tournament no longer simply awards a cup to its champion, but in a nod to its more distinguished elder "cousin" The Masters (which after all started out as Bobby Jones inviting his friends down to Augusta to play a little golf) the Arbuckle Invitational now awards a green jacket to its champion as well. 



Fifteen years. Like The Masters, the Arbuckle event now has an annual awards banquet, catered if you will by Buddy's Pizza, Detroit's famous purveyor of square pizza since 1946. The dinner has been held for the last two years in the downtown Detroit apartment of Kathleen Straus and Walter Shapero.  

Fifteen years. Not every tournament has a Patron Saint. Yet the members in good standing of the Arbuckle event determined that the aforementioned Judge Shapero had become instrumental to the tournament's ongoing success (having purchased the green jacket among other inspired acts). So at this year's banquet he was given a special plaque to commemorate his saintly status.



Fifteen years. The tournament has succeeded in reuniting four old friends. As far as they can tell, Ron Braun and Peter Straus go back to the fifth grade at Detroit's Schulze Elementary School -- some time around 1961. Stanley Pesick came on the scene around 1962 and Rick Last is the Johnny-come-lately having joined the group around 1964. All were members of a junior high school social club called, believe it or not, the Dovels (a misspelling of a then popular singing group; also mis-pronounced "dough-vells"). All stayed friends from Dovel days through high school, and on through the University of Michigan where they roomed together in various configurations.  Post college, all went their separate ways. Braun stayed in Michigan; Last moved to Boston; and Pesick and Straus moved to California. Life intervened, though Pesick and Straus lived within 150 miles of one another and stayed friends, the others dropped away. Years passed. Marriages, children, careers, even divorce ensued.



Fifteen years. Consider how odd it is that this funny little golf tournament brought them back together. It started on the occasion of Stan's marriage to Liz Barclay. Since it was a second union for both, they wanted a small affair -- almost no guests, just a quiet ceremony by the sea. Straus though wanted more for his good old friend, so he proposed a little golfing getaway -- no bachelor party, just two longtime pals playing golf for a couple of days....but where to tee it up? How about midway between Pesick's home in Berkeley and Straus' in Chico? There's a little old nine hole golf course in Arbuckle California. Surely a virtually unknown track in a tiny town would be in keeping with Stan's desire to keep the wedding as low key as possible.

To commemorate the replacement bachelor party Straus purchased an ultra cheap gold loving cup -- the least expensive he could find -- and dubbed it with as much irony as he could muster, The Coupe d'Arbuckle, to be awarded to the winner of the two day event. It was, if you will, the coup de grace. No surprise, the marriage has been a happy one lasting the full fifteen years; surprisingly though, so has the Cup.

Fifteen years. The following January, Straus ran into Braun at a funeral in the Detroit area. They had been out of touch for more than twenty years. "Great seeing you". "You too". "What do you do in your free time?", " I play some golf". "Me too.". "Hey, you ought to come out to California and compete for the Arbuckle Cup". "I'm there! Just tell me when". By the next year they had a threesome.

Fifteen years. Golf is best played in a foursome. The rhythm of the game just seems to work best when there are four players. Fivesomes are slow. Twosomes are difficult, because they generally move too quickly around a golf course. Three is, well three is an odd number. So foursomes are best, thus at the conclusion of the second event it was decided the group had to track down  "The Little Cat", Rick Last, whose never forgotten college nickname, among other endearing qualities, had made him the epitome of a long lost friend. Given the Internet; the Detroit phone book; and the dogged determination of Ron Braun there never was any doubt that if Rick even knew the difference between a putter and driver then he would be there the next year.  And, of course, he was.

Fifteen years. The above has never been chronicled, at least never before has it been put into writing. How insignificant then to even worry about winners and losers as, clichéd as it might seem, there are no losers in an event like this. Yet it's the competition and bragging rights that give the Arbuckle Invitational its special place. So in brief, the 2012 event held at three courses in Ann Arbor was won by Peter Straus.  Rick Last, the Little Cat, came in a strong second; long-hitting Stanley Pesick came in third and the defending champion, Ron Braun, a gracious and generous host as ever, never got untracked.

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The author would like to thank Mitch Albom for inspiration on the above piece.

Arbuckle 2012 Courses


   Leslie Park
   University of Michigan Stadium Course
   University of Michigan Radrick Farms



Radrick Farms turned out to be a great addition to the Arbuckle rotation, click here for more information ....http://radrick.umich.edu/.
Radrick Farms, #15

 
The prices, with carts included, were noteworthy: $42 at Radrick; $35 at the Stadium Course; and $23 at Leslie Park.  Golf in Ann Arbor is a tremendous value....and the courses were all in superb condition.