Catskill Cup History, Part I

The History of the Catskill Cup, Part I – The Origins

Like many facets of the Catskill Cup, the origins are disputed. Golf outings in the Catskill Region of New York were common among several Catskill Cup alumni (known hereafter as “Cuppers”) in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but this author points to the fall of 1992 when four players – Paul Anderson, David Leeds, Casey Clark and Jim Brose – competed for a prize (a Golden Retriever golf ball retriever) and spent two nights in Liberty, N.Y., at the Liberty Holiday Inn Express.

Liberty is the birthplace of the event. It is here where the event crystallized from a weekend golf outing into a permanent, floating golf competition. A defining feature of the Catskill Cup is the utter absence of official prize money awarded to a winning team. Bragging rights are the prize. In later years, an actual Catskill Cup was purchased with contributions from competitors. The names of winning players are inscribed on the cup for future generations of Cuppers to wonder: “Who were these men? What made them tick?” This tradition of non-monetary reward can be traced directly to the Golden Retriever.

Over the years, the Golden Retriever has taken on a somewhat mythical status. Like a religious relic, it is said to have supernatural powers of healing. No man who carries the sacred, telescopic device in his bag, the legend goes, will suffer the stroke-and-distance penalty of a lost ball. Like the Golden Fleece of Greek legend, its whereabouts today are unkown. This author can neither confirm nor deny the accuracy of the legend. I simply report the widely held theory, and move on.

The original Cuppers lodged at the base of the splendid Grossinger golf course at the Liberty Holiday Inn Express (long since converted to a Days Inn). However, they never set foot at Grossies. Instead, the course rota featured Terry Brae and Lochmore (a package deal), Kutschers Country Club and the Nevele. All are fine courses, but none can compare to the grandeur of the Big G. The incongruence of four Cuppers lodging in Liberty and bypassing the Grossinger Country Club is one of the great ironies of Catskill Cup history.

It wasn’t until the following year that Cuppers experienced the joys of Grossinger: the amazing first green, the tragically simple short number 11, the nerve-wracking final sloping fairway at number 18, and of course, the island green at number 13 (pictured above). Today, the very word “Grossinger” has the kind of magical power over a Catskill Cupper as the word “Christmas” has to a five-year old Christian, or “prostitute” to a hardware convention delegate. A closer look at Grosinger will come in future chapters of this history.

Also worth mentioning from the original event was an exchange that took place on the first tee at the Nevele, when the starter advised the foursome to move up to the white tees. David Leeds (whose exploits at Grossinger would later be honored at number 11, where Leedsie’s Pond lurks in front of the green) endeared himself to future Cuppers and entered Catskill immortality with a remark that rival’s Cambronne’s words on Mount Saint Jean at the Battlefield of Waterloo before English fire made smooth the brow of the hill.

Leeds replied: “Length is not a problem for us.”

Current information about the status of the original foursome is sketchy. Leeds is rumored to be a Long Island insurance industry man. Jim Brose—the founder of the event by most accounts—continues to be a driving force behind the Catskill Cup. Clark is the historian whose humble efforts you are reading right now. Little is known, however, about Paul Anderson, who drove this author back to the city following the event. Anderson had the peculiar habit of turning off the car radio when the advertisements were broadcast, and then turning it back on when he anticipated the advertisements would be over.

One can only hope that Anderson looks back with pride on his role in launching the Catskill Cup.

Next installment: Eight Men Out: The History of the Catskill Cup, Part II.