In a game that requires its contestants to begin each hole by propelling
a tiny sphere the length of two football fields or more, it often comes down to
rolling a 1.68” ball a relatively short distance into a cup that measures four
and a quarter inches. You drive for show
and putt for dough, or so the saying goes. Such was the story of Arbuckle
21 which was decided for all intents and purposes on hole 15 of the last day when
Stanley Pesick sank a thirty-foot
curving uphill birdie putt to seize what seemed to be a commanding four stroke
lead over his closest competitor. Or was it?
For as fickle a game as golf nothing is ever settled until, well,
it is. Pesick maintained his lead over the famed Badman from Motown, Ron Braun, on the 16th when
both recorded bogies. Off to the 17th on Ann Arbor’s Leslie Park
Golf Course they went. Seventeen is one of LPGC’s signature holes. Nestled next to an old barn, it’s a
pretty little 125 yd par three, with a sizeable pond fronting a tricky green. The necessary shot is all
carry over the water.
Pesick, whose ball striking had been exemplary throughout
the week, stepped confidently up to the tee and proceeded to foozle a thirty-yard
wounded duck to a soggy grave. Up next, Braun pounded one of his best shots of the week
directly over the flag and converted a nice two putt for par. Pesick stumbled home
with a triple bogey and suddenly as the competitors came to the 18th and
last hole, the lead had shrunk to one. No further drama to report though,
neither competitor could do much as Pesick, warily watching his opponent, did
what he needed to do by matching Braun stoke for stroke. The 21st
Cup was his.
Pesick, whose ball striking had been exemplary throughout
the week, stepped confidently up to the tee and proceeded to foozle a thirty-yard
wounded duck to a soggy grave. Up next, Braun pounded one of his best shots of the week
directly over the flag and converted a nice two putt for par. Pesick stumbled home
with a triple bogey and suddenly as the competitors came to the 18th and
last hole, the lead had shrunk to one. No further drama to report though,
neither competitor could do much as Pesick, warily watching his opponent, did
what he needed to do by matching Braun stoke for stroke. The 21st
Cup was his.
Braun, was never satisfied with his game and was frankly
surprised to find himself with a chance to steal a victory. His putter,
normally his most reliable stick, let him down. For example, on Pesick’s decisive 15th
hole, Braun had a desultory and disappointing three putt for a double bogey. “Too
many three putts for me” said the Michigander. 
The other two competitors, Rick Last and Peter Straus finished four strokes back in what, in the end, was the closest Arbuckle ever. Going out, Last, the Little Cat, played one of his best nines and had a sizable lead as they made the turn at Leslie Park, but a
Straus, the two-time defending champ, never solved the greens on any of the four courses the boys played in Michigan. On the last day, the Chicoan had a solid ball striking round but struggled with his putter throughout, missing, for example, birdie putts on holes two, three and four (indeed three putting each) and generally looked uncomfortable on the greens all day.
So, putting --whether at Leslie Park’s nicely manicured
greens; a miniature golf establishment’s fraying carpet or on the famed slippery
slopes of Augusta National (where it’s said putting on those greens is like
putting on kitchen linoleum) -- is oftentimes the difference between winning
and losing. Those who saw Pesick’s spectacular putt on 15, will forever agree.
