Drive for Show

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 16^th when both recorded bogies. Off to the 17^th 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 18^th 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 21^st 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 15^th hole, Braun had a desultory and disappointing three putt for a double bogey. “Too many three putts for me” said the Michigander.

Braun’s normally effective putting stroke has always been a bit of a mystery as he seems to line up with the putter facing way left of the target, yet when he strikes the ball it’s pure. A bit of research revealed that one of golf’s best putters -ever- Bobby Locke of South Africa had the same technique. He’d line up his putter aimed two feet to the right (Braun putts lefty, Locke righty; Braun does follow through) and then square up the ball as he made contact.  If you're interested, click here.

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 disastrous execrable 11^th hole where he put two in the woods, for a quintuple 10 sent him tumbling down the leaderboard and he never recovered. Let’s think about that front nine and put the back out of mind.

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.