Gentlemen 

32 years into it and The WACOFF Invitational and Gentlemen's Retreat still bursts with an enthusiasm and camaraderie that defies time and distance.  This year's edition was a fine example of the power of friendship, golf, booze and fun that has been a hallmark of the WACOFF since its infancy.  The Committee is lucky and blessed to be able to participate in something with such staying power.

Returning to the Northport Bay Retreat after an absence of over 20 years brought back fond memories of past WACOFFs at this storied venue, and we were once again reminded why Northern Michigan in the early fall is such a great place to be.  The Retreat provided a warm and comfortable atmosphere that enabled the boyz to be boyz again for a brief moment. 

The Committee's collective short-term memory is increasingly short of band width as we age, but a few lasting observations emerged from the haze:

-the spectacular orange glow sunrise on Friday morning for those who rose early enough to see it, 

-the warm (albeit smoky) embrace  of the Stimson Eagle Scout quality fire and consequent bullshitting and dissing on Friday evening,

- the hearty communal dinners on Friday and Saturday night, 

-the joyous recitation of the Benediction led with energy by Jimmy B,

-the ease with which everyone rekindled conversations and friendships after a year apart, 

-the marvelously cooperative weather which accompanied our sojourns on the links, 

-the lure of the hot tub to salve aching joints and backs,

-the energy of the youngsters and the ostensible wisdom of the elders creating a marvelous and easy generational blend, 

- the abundance of good cheer and brotherly interactions fueled by copious quantities of quality liquor and other stimulants.

Taken together, it is impossible not to recognize and appreciate that we have a good thing going here. 

But we digress.  

Our merry band was enhanced this year by the presence of several newbies, fine fellows all.  A big thanks to Skip Pruss for recruiting Aaron Pruss and John Todd to fill in a few holes in our lineup.  We also welcomed Dr. Joon Kim (straight out of the OR at Sparrow Hospital)  and Gary Bice to their first WACOFF.  All four were instrumental in contributing to the overall good vibe and we welcome them back to future Invitationals with open arms.  One of the amazing aspects of our annual gathering is that almost everyone who has joined along the way as a substitute or an add on has immediately sensed the gravitational pull of our group and have eagerly continued to participate and attend.  

Our golf plate was also full this year, with two new venues and a return to two old favorites.  Champion Hill was universally lauded as a fun and challenging track, with particular cognizance of the wonderful natural routing amongst and between the ridges and the postcard quality views of the Leelanau Peninsula and Lake Michigan from its heights.  Northport Creek was a very pleasant surprise, with its tight fairways and demanding greens posing an uncommon challenge for a muni 9 holer.  Both will certainly be included in any future return to Leelanau.  Manitou Passage was also fun, and fortunately we were spared the injuries which plagued previous visits to this course.  Bahle Farms proved to be a beautiful setting and a stiff challenge for the Scramble Championship, as evidenced by the relatively low winning scores and the absence of the favored power teams from the leaderboard.  All in all, the Golf Committee did its usual fine job of serving up exceptional and challenging golf this year.

The competition results were varied.  Strong showings came from disparate sources:  The Thursday Net 2 man Stableford game honors went to Paull and Glenn Coughenour in AB (no surprise there as Champion Hill is a home game for Glenn) and, in a revealing display of the constant need for updated handicapping, to Charlie Stimson (who shot a decidedly unD like 88) and Skip Pruss in CD.  Ron Hardesty in his first outing as an A player led his team (A. Pruss, S. Pruss and J. Bretz) to a runaway victory on Friday, outpacing their nearest rivals (Bretz, Guerriero, Bice and Mantey)  by 10 strokes. 

The Scramble Championship was as close and exciting as it gets.  The Gris Verde team  led by first time A Captain Bill Green (w Guerriero, Voshel and J. Bretz) finished at -6 but outlasted the determined Grau Rot gamers of Moss, J. Coughenour, S.Pruss and J. Todd with the same -6 score via a tie breaker all the way back to the Bill Green solo birdie on 15.  A win for the books.  Well done boys.  You don't need to hit the ball 300 yards on every drive to win this thing it seems.  

On Sunday, Glenn Coughenour continued his winning ways by by besting his little brother Paul for the AB low net victory with a fine 82 at Northport Creek. Jimmy Bretz made it 3 out of 4 wins by squeaking out a tie breaker over Charlie Stimson in the CD flight.  The Committee suspects the Golf Committee will be hard pressed not to promote both of you boys to C next year.

Full results will be forthcoming in due course pending completion of an audit by the Golf Committee.  

All good things must come to an end and thus this missive concludes with the usual acknowledgement of efforts by those who contributed to this event. Ron Hardesty did his usual creative job of outfitting us with shirts that, at the very least, call attention to the fact that we are here to play and make a statement.  Your confusing but no doubt heartfelt attempt to come up with cute and/or interesting names notwithstanding, a well done to you Ron. 

Thanks to all of you who pitched in with meal prep and clean up.  Your efforts are underappreciated but so important to avoiding the prospect of our weekend home turning into a garbage pit.  The fruit flies are unfortunately an unavoidable part of fall in Northport, but at least we were able to stave off the rats.  Thanks to everyone who helped out.

Marshall Hyman did his usual workmanlike duty with the performance prizes in his usual competent and workmanlike manner, as did Glenn Coughenour managing the pari mutuel betting on Sunday.  Some confusion arose due to some of you attempting to bypass our resident bookie in placing your bets, but this will be remedied in the future.  

Our resident archivist and historian John Stimson outdoes himself every year with his presentation of our collective history and this year was no exception.  Thank you John for your tireless efforts to collect, house, transport and display the precious mementoes of our merry band.  Additionally, John was the organizer and maestro of the Thursday Game this year, and it was boffo.  Thank you again.

Finally, kudos and thanks again to the Chair of the Golf Committee Paul C who works tirelessly on our behalf.  The second year of the experiment with app based scoring was hit and miss but know that the Golf Committee will persevere undaunted into the electronic future.  

Next year doesn't come soon enough for us, but mark your calendars for the weekend of September 5-8, 2024 for the 33rd Annual.  Venue, details and invoices forthcoming in early 2024 BUT SAVE THE DATE!

Should any of you have additional tales, observations or laments to add to this WrapUp, please do so.  The voices of the faithful are (almost) always worth hearing .

To all, an enjoyable and safe winter season.  Stay healthy, stay warm and, most of all, keep the WACOFF spirit alive until we meet again.

YrObtSvts

THE COMMITTEE