Arbuckle. The word evokes a wide range
of thoughts. A defrocked Hollywood actor from the 20’s. That’s Fatty. A stop on
I-5 in the Central Valley of California. The town itself. And of course a golf
tournament whose eponymous Cup is celebrating its twentieth year in existence.
So why after all these years would the participants change the name. Arbuckle? Nah,
this year it became CoupleBuckle.
CoupleBuckle? That’s right. Like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, the
Augusta National Golf Club and the Marines, our formerly male-only organization
invited women. Sure this year they were observers, but in the future, as bodies
get more broken down or who knows, if they take up the game; we could someday indeed
see a truly mixed event. But 2017 was the year of CoupleBuckle. And in 2017
there was still a golf tournament to be played over 54 holes in Northern
Michigan by the four (male) Arbucklians.
For the first time since 2004 there was a repeat winner as
reigning champion Peter Straus put on a dominating performance to win
the 2017 event. The die was cast early on as Straus birdied the second hole and
never trailed, though Stanley Pesick did catch him at the end of day one
and actually recorded a lower net, 87-73, to Straus’ 89-73.
The same two matched shots for the first five holes on day two,
but then Pesick’s recovery from recent knee surgery and the resultant lack of
playing time caught up with him and he fell back. He was plainly rusty and was
unable to fashion a repeatable swing.
Rick Last, the Little Cat, simply put, had a tough time of
it. After a great drive on the opening hole, the Cat found his own personal
kitty litter box, the sand, on his second shot and in essence never got out. A
snowman (8) on hole number one was more than a bad omen, for it presaged
continued problems with the sand throughout the three-day event. Too much time spent in the cat box spelled
disaster for the diminutive feline and what a pity it was because his tee shots
have never been better or longer.
That left the Badman himself, Ron Braun, as Straus’ lone
challenger. Granted Straus led Braun by five at the final turn on Thursday but
a terrible seven by Straus at ten, compared to Braun’s bogey five left the
cartmates in a duel. Straus gained a stroke back on eleven then they each went
bogey, par, par, bogey on the next four holes. Sixteen, though did Braun in as
Straus picked up two more strokes with a par.
The rest was fairly academic. Nonetheless “Down the middle Ron” as his
fellow suburban Detroit golf league competitors call him, hung in there and
made a match of it. Braun, like Last, has greatly improved his driving. Surprisingly it was his chipping and
pitching, normally a strong suit, that let him down.
Straus, though, was steady. He played pure bogey golf — 89,90,91
— on three unfamiliar courses and with the exception of a few inexplicable
out-of-the blue (can you say shank) shots, hit the ball crisply throughout. It
was a convincing win for the defending champ who now has won four of the last
six events.
The courses were all terrific: Mistwood on Tuesday was
interesting if a bit gimmicky; the Wednesday venue, Interlochen, an older
course, quite pretty with mature trees, was a good test. The Thursday track,
Emerald Vale, with its wide fairways and sweeping views was everyone’s
favorite.
But enough about golf. Back to CoupleBuckle -- the name does have
certain mellifluous ring to it, doesn’t it? This year there were eight of us. Enormous thanks to Liz Barclay, Laura
Braun, Nancy Evens and Carole Horowitz for helping
celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Cup. The four women experienced much
of the greater Traverse City area from going to the Mission peninsula to wine
tasting, a garden tour in the Grand Traverse Commons (a converted Civil War era
madhouse) and even a movie at the T.C. Film Festival. They made the event more
of a celebration than ever before. So Arbuckle. CoupleBuckle. The Cup.
Whatever. Here’s to twenty more.
Kathleen Straus presenting the green jacket
to the champ, if the video doesn't run,
then try https://youtu.be/vyApc5pQfjA
A compendium of photos will soon follow.....
