A Tradition Unlike Any Other™?

January 18, 2018 -- Many years ago, in a hushed tone, Jim Nance uttered the familiar, and now trademarked, phrase “a tradition unlike any other” about The Masters™ Golf Tournament. Ok, we get it. All golfers love the Masters. It’s great. We love the green jacket; even have one of our own; but come on. A jacket? Please. 

So, in keeping with the sacred irrelevance irreverence of the now fabled Arbuckle Invitational Golf Tournament, we are pleased to announce the birth of a tradition that is – really – unlike any other. Introducing the Winterbuckle Buckle, which will be awarded each year at the conclusion of the now annual Winterbuckle golf get together.

Badman at Rancho

Rick Last, the Little Cat, earned the inaugural buckle, er, buckle, with a steady display of golf on three Southern California courses last week. First, we played a practice round at Rancho Park in West Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Open was played there from 1956 through 1967; Arnold Palmer, among others, won three of those events. No blood among the Arbuckle four on that 18; though it was the best track of the three.

Pesick at Rancho

Next up was a round at Griffith Park’s Harding course, a storied and beautifully placed course that once was a regular stop on the PGA Tour. Many of the greats once played there including Tiger Woods who won the LA Junior Open as a 16 year old in 1991. Excitingly, the LA Olympic Organizing Committee has proposed using the Griffith Park layouts (there are two courses up there: Harding and Wilson) as the golf venue for the 2028 Olympic Games.

Rancho, seventh tee

In our outing, Last went 3-0 in a round robin team event; soundly trouncing the other three who all finished 1-2.

On our final day, we played De Bell, a funky track in Burbank. There we played a mini tournament in which Last just nipped Stanley Pesick 1 up on the 18^th hole to clinch the bronze. The quality of play between the Cat and Pesick was extremely high with pars being matched down the stretch culminating, and especially, on the 18^th hole. It was a great match.

Griffith

Peter Straus and Ron Braun played the championship flight, another good match, which Straus won on the 17^th, 2 and 1, primarily based on a pair of pretty approaches -- the first on 16 to within 10 feet and then to about three feet on 17.

Note the background at Griffith

But Last had the best overall performance and hence now has the Winterbuckle buckle to display proudly around his hometown of Amherst, Massachusetts. This author can’t wait to hear what the Cat’s fellow golfers will have to say at the Amherst Golf Club next Spring. Oh, the envy.

More Pix

No mention of Winterbuckle LA 2018 would be complete without acknowledging our hosts -- the Beckman-Strauses -- Jon, Naomi and the Stanimal. It was great hanging out with them and breaking bread on two occasions.

And Finally

Wearing the Winterbuckle buckle with obvious pride

BollyBuckle Pix, October 2017

View to the North from Fairmont Gold Room, 20th floor

View to the West from Fairmont Gold Room, 20th floor

Golf Song?

Have you heard Back Nine by Ben Sidran?

Check out the YouTube --- https://youtu.be/8VaqLhFqtGk








Lyrics

Back Nine
I made my way to the back nine
They call me the iron man
Watching out for the sand traps
Formulating my plan
Out on the back nine
I know how to do my thing
I traded in the Five Spot
For a new kind of club
But I still maintain my swing
Life ain’t nothing but fine
Out on the back nine
Laying back on the back nine
The hustle is still my thing
Drive for show, in the hole for dough
You know they call me the rhythm king
On the back nine
It’s a hazard just to be alive
Still having fun with the old pitch and run
But now the score ain’t nothing but jive
I got the Bird on my mind
Out on the back nine
Things are good on the back nine
Got the view from the club house turn
Running the changes on the driving ranges
Waiting for the grass to burn
On the back nine
Everything is by the book
Got the Caddy for Daddy
The glide in my stride
Just dealing with a different hook
Life ain’t nothing but fine
Out on the back nine

Sundry Photos from CoupleBuckle 2017

Fountain Point

Fountain Point

Cheese Cave near T.C.

Hurand Family cottage

Above video of Straus teeing off

CoupleBuckle 2017

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.....

What We're Playing For

The big news in this year's upcoming tourney is the creation of a special one time only trophy that will go to the winner of the event. The green jacket has also been upgraded with new buttons donated by tournament guardian angel Walter Shapero.

Wearing o' the Green, 2017

Straus wore the jacket to the Chico Pitch Party on April 12, 2017. Attendees were duly impressed (by the jacket).

A perfect fit.

In keeping with solemn tradition, 2016 Champion Peter Straus dazzled Chico locals and more with the vaunted green jacket. Attendees noted how well it suited him.

Gettin' Ready, Part II

Here's the Commish getting ready for CoupleBuckle.  Click on this link or copy it into your browser -- https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4aZnhcaKWzoVFpkUVAwdVAtYlU

Hitting the Recovery Trail

Dateline, Berkeley, California, March 1, 2017
Newsflash! Stanley Pesick has begun his post-surgery training for Arbuckle XX. Proof is here.Quest for the Cup Begins, Pt. I

Half a buckle is better than no buckle at all

Winterbuckle 17 was held in Ft. Myers FL and was attended by the Little Cat, Rick Last,  playing out of Amherst, Massachusetts and Badman (Ron) Braun of Farmington Hills, Michigan. Featured event apparently was competitive seafood imbibing. Sorry we missed it.