A McNabb Cup victory long in the making – Scott Staudacher

By MacDuff

Whitehall, Mich., Sept. 29, 2022 – There was a buzz of nervous anticipation in the great media palace located somewhere above. Groups of heavenly cognoscenti measured their time and their drinks the while casting furtive glances at the great televised contest and keeping an eye on the betting window.

Bernardo Darwin glanced casually at his notepad; nearby, Herb Wind and Henry Longhurst were keeping an eye on the live feed from The McNabb Cup. It was the back nine on the annual battleground for this, golf’s most legendary trophy, and the spirits of golf’s greatest writers were keen to follow the action.

“It reminds me,” said Darwin, a glass of Veuve Cliqcuot La Grande Dame in hand, “of the ‘wery fierce’ match between Ball and Tait for the 1899 Amateur. It was a day, I recall saying, ‘of heroic emotions’.”

Wind and Longhurst looked at one another, rolled their eyes ever so imperceptibly, and continued scanning for updates.

The McNabb Cup is played every September of the White Lake Golf Club, a combination of Tom Bendelow’s back nine created in 1916 and a member-designed front nine added some dozen years later. Contestants from throughout the American Midwest and, indeed, from Scotland, England, Canada, and the U.S. East Coast, have traveled to the little Michigan town to try their hand at winning the silver Cup. This year featured a courageous player from Wisconsin, the doughty Greg Smith, a gutty player of no little renown, who wished to add his name to the list of suitors for Miss Isabell McNabb’s trophy.

“1922, I think,” said Longhurst, mixing a gin and tonic. “Wasn’t that the year the original Cup was won?”

“Quite right,” said Wind. “This marks the 100th anniversary of that signature victory by Miss McNabb, although only the 11th playing in the modern era of The McNabb Cup. And that one fellow has been steadily on track to win it since he first entered the field in 2012.”

Darwin agreed, adding “It was always easy to understand why he became so famous a player. He has everything, the intellect, the memory, the imagination. I have known others, not to be named, whom I was told are extremely good, yet seem to me devoid of golfing intelligence.”

“Oh good lord Bernardo, do leave us some room for the mystery of it,” Longhurst said. “They say that practice makes perfect. Of course it DOESN’T. For the vast majority of golfers, it merely consolidates imperfection. However, this man…”

“I quite agree, Henry, but Bernardo has a point,” Wind said. “Check the monitor now. Laundrie may yet catch him. I have said it before, in golf, as in no other sport, your principal opponent is yourself. If the modern Wee Mon stumbles coming home, the youngster will take The Cup.” (And I may take a few hundred quid to the bank, he thought to himself).

The field for the 2022 Cup was no less than 23 players, several having withdrawn due to physical setbacks, among them, local favorite Rollo Schmidt, who, playing off a 16 handicap and a former club champion, looked to have things lining up in his favor. Sadly, a nagging hip injury forced him to withdraw, dashing the hopes of his and his many hundreds of local fans for a champion’s hurrah. 

“It is a shame,” Wind said. “No golfer has completed his education until he has played for The Cup and studied the burial place of old man gloom – the testing Bendelow nine of the White Lake course.”

Also missing this year was one of The Cup’s stalwarts, part of its heart and soul, Mr. Ed Ronco, who passed away in February 2022. He may leave an absent spot in our numbers, but he’ll always be present in spirit whenever The Cup is played. An Honorary Captain in Perpetuity he was named by The Committee.

But of those 23 present, there were six newcomers: men like the aforementioned Smith of Wisconsin; Stephen Proctor of Florida, an erudite wordsmith of some small skill with a golf club; Christian Williams of New York, a self-described hacker and chronicler of epic hickory golf tournaments; Bruce Markwardt, a Michigan man, an islander of Grosse Ile, who paints and produces wooden sand tee molds, harmless to all but himself; Andy Grow of Michigan, a retired Coast Guard officer of proud stature and affable demeanor; and Brent Ronald of Tennessee, a man from whose eyes blazed a hunger for golfing glory.

These few were admitted from the hundreds of applicants by The Cup’s legendary overseers, the August & Ancient Committee, whose dictums are law regarding Cup admittance, deportment, even dress, they believing as Polonius that “apparel oft proclaims the man.” In this case, a shirt and tie being mandatory for play as a sign of respect first for Miss McNabb, second the game itself, third one’s fellow competitors, and fourth the course on which the game is played.

The players assembled before the round on a gorgeous Michigan day for their customary group photograph, a pictorial record much esteemed by The Committee, dressed in snappy blue blazers proudly sporting coveted McNabb Cup crests. Following this purgatory, outgoing Capt. Scott Staudacher ceremonially passed the Captain’s Medal to incoming Captain, Roger Hill, a legendary figure among hickory golfers in his own home.

A few words from Mr. Hill who then drove in The Cup, and play commenced, inspiring a fresh round of betting and drinks in the media palace. 

The Cup has two formats upon which one may earn undying glory. First, the Stableford point system determines the eventual winner of The Cup itself. Second, lower handicap players are urged to putt out on every hole to determine a low-score champion. 

Two men in the field, two of the betting favorites, had just returned only a day earlier from competition in the 2022 U.S. Hickory Open. Weary from that test, they wasted not a moment in washing their faces, donning fresh clothes and hurrying to their appointed tee times. These were Bill Ellington, a two-time winner of The Cup, and Scott Staudacher whose eye had the cold and focused look of one who had been denied entry into the hallowed hall of Cup Champions once too often.

They would both find their hands full with Mr. Collin Laundrie of Wisconsin, a much (in Ellington’s case MUCH) younger man with a near-scratch handicap. Laundrie had taken the Low Score trophy in 2021 and was eager to add The McNabb Cup to his growing list of golf championships.

The 2021 McNabb Champion, Timothy Stroshine, was a strong early contender, bringing in 37 Stableford points. His 41 took The Cup last year. But a few ghastly putts in the late going rather blunted his hopes in the current contest. As he winced while watching one of these particularly puzzling miscues, Mr. Longhurst was heard to say “In all my life, I have never seen a putt quite like that.”

Wisconsin’s Smith and Scott Petersen of Grand Rapids, also turned in 37s. Petersen, who bears a striking resemblance to Donald Ross, was heard to mutter over a few shots that “The big Scotsman is NOT happy.”

“You know,” said Darwin, considering Petersen’s progress round the course, “It is the constant and undying hope for improvement that makes golf so exquisitely worth playing.” Glasses were raised in strong agreement.

Others would bring in scores of 36 and 34. Gary Trapani, a former McNabb Champion and Captain, turned in a 36 himself. An expository player, Mr. Trapani can often be heard urging whatever deity might be at hand to lend a ball farther, higher or more accurate flight.

Overhearing Trapani’s strongly worded comments, Longhurst remarked “I have often said it – if you call on God to improve the results of a shot while it is still in motion, you are using ‘an outside agency’ and subject to appropriate penalties under the rules of golf.”

“Here, here,” voiced several colleagues, among them PG Wodehouse, who hurried back to the bar for a refreshing refill. “Butterflies in the meadow,” he muttered.

And then there was Dave Lipa, a rising young stud from the Wyandotte breeding stock, who stunned the bookies with a daunting 39.

But the greater shock was felt in the media palace when it was reported that the rookie player from Gross Ile, Mr. Markwardt, the sand tee maker, had brought in a 40. The beaming, but dazed, Markwardt told reporters that he felt he was in a zone of some kind. He was in a zone all right, and had to rush off to prevent the authorities from towing his improperly parked truck.

But the question now was whether Staudacher could match that imperious 40, improve upon it, make it seem mere second-hand goods. There has only been one recorded McNabb Cup playoff and that with very curious results (see the 2013 report).

Staudacher had recorded 23 points on the front and needed only 17 to tie and 18 for the victory. It was not an impossible task, very doable, but under the pressure of the McNabb Cup?

“Golf is a limitless arena for the full play of human nature,” Wind uttered. “We shall see if he has the stuff to bring it home.”

Michigan’s Wee Mon opened the back with a bogie on 10 but took a birdie on 11. Then came a succession of pars including a glorious par on No. 14, a hole universally regarded as despicable evidence of a cruel greens committee’s depravity. Staudacher gained on the field with that one. Another incautious bogie on 15, then a disastrous double on 16! No points at all gained there. A hole lost. (Wind smiled to himself, while Longhurst grimaced and Bernardo turned an ashen face to the screen.)

A steadying par on 17, then a bogie on 18 and it was done. Eighteen points on the back! Staudacher had weathered the pressure-cooker that is The McNabb Cup to engineer 41 total Stableford points along with a low gross score of 76. Both scores would hold up to guarantee the Wee Mon’s long quest for McNabb Cup immortality had finally been fulfilled.

His had been a victory long in the making following years of heartbreak falling short to the likes of Ellington, Stroshine, Todd Riker and John Cova; each of whom, in the great tradition of McNabb Champions, congratulated the new champion with handshakes and, in Ellington’s case, an attempted, but thwarted, smooch.

Even Proctor, the great golf writer and historian, was at a loss for words. “Staggering,” he said. “The re-write men will be busy today. Surely this brief golden afternoon will live long in men’s memories.”

The media palace, too, was beside itself, except for Wind, who had money on Laundrie. The young Wisconsinite had fired a gross 78 for second in the low score category, but garnered only 31 Stableford points for a finish rather toward the middle of the pack. Nor did the young player hang his head in disappointment, but told reporters that he relished his opportunity to compete in this most legendary of golf tournaments and come so close. That is the true McNabb spirit. Good man.

The 2022 contest will long be remembered in McNabb Cup history on this the 11th playing and the 100th anniversary of The Cup itself.

Longhurst headed back to the bar, ordering drinks for all. “Golfing excellence goes hand in hand with alcohol, as many an open and amateur champion has shown,” quoth he. “And many a good writer, too, I might add.”

Staudacher addressed the media waiting off the 18th green. “I really wanted this one,” he told them. “I may have won a few other events and snatched up medals for other tournaments, but this… this is The McNabb Cup,” he said, his voice near to breaking. “I feel now like I have earned my place in this field and in the greater community of hickory golfers.”

While Staudacher signed autographs and negotiated endorsement deals, the rest of the players, their guests and friends repaired to a local clubhouse overlooking the blue and sparkling White Lake. The facility was hired especially to host the field and furnish them with good food and drink. 

Mr. Proctor, too, added to the festive atmosphere by bringing all players a copy of his newest book, The Long Golden Afternoon, about golf’s great champions and championships between 1864-1914. In a most gracious gesture, he signed a copy for each player. No doubt it will prove an admirable follow-up to his first book, Monarch of the Green, about that formidable golfing prodigy Tom Morris Jr.

The while Capt. Roger Hill assisted McNabb Cup Secretary JH Davis Jr. in announcing and awarding prizes, which included two handsome autographed books by Sidney Matthew, the great Bobby Jones biographer. 

It was an excellent way to wind down a most intense and emotional day. “A hearty and agreeable day,” Darwin said.

The last word we leave to Wind: “There is no sure accounting for golf’s fascination… Perhaps it is nothing more than the best game man has ever devised.”

To which every McNabb Cup player will heartily raise a glass.

The 2022 McNabb Cup
McNabb Cup Champion – Scott Staudacher, 41
Second – Bruce Markwardt, 40
Third – Dave Lipa, 39

Low Score
Scott Staudacher, 76
Collin Laundrie, 78
Bill Ellington, 79

Others competing for the 2022 Cup:
Frank Abrahams, Joe Bodnar, John Cova, Andy Grow, Roger Hill, Jack Maynard, Zach Miller, Scott Petersen, Larry Pinchback, Steven Proctor, Brent Ronald, John Slaby, Lloyd Slinglend, Greg Smith, Gary Trapani, Bill Tucholski, Christian Williams, and Tim Stroshine.

Click on any photo in the gallery below to bring up full size images.