As the South Central field representative for GCSAA, it can be hard to keep up with local events, but there is one North Texas chapter event that is circled bright red on my calendar every spring. Next week, on March 31 at Ridglea Country Club, members of the North Texas GCSA will compete in a long-standing tradition known as the "Bully Cup." It is a friendly competition between members of the east side of the chapter territory against the west side. Most people think of it as Dallas vs. Fort Worth, but really it includes members from all parts of the vast North Texas GCSA area.
As an "old timer" with the chapter, I am often asked (actually I usually have to bring it up) how did the chapter come up with the name Bully Cup? I wish there was a prestigious and sentimental tribute I could tell, but actually it started like a lot of good Tall Texas Tales – golf, great friends and the pursuit of fun.
The actual tournament started in 1997 with a friendly match between members from the west side of DFW hosting the east siders at Pecan Valley Golf Club. Back then, it was very cleverly called the NTGCSA Ryder Cup. No one got hurt so the annual event continued at Twin Creeks GC, then at Shady Valley CC, then in 2000 at Sky Creek Ranch Golf Club in Keller. It was still called the DFW Ryder Cup that year, but a series of events on the course were the genesis of the Bully Cup, a.k.a the Battle for Bully. Fitting that the tale started at the course of one of NTGCSA’s legendary members, Stephen Best.
Basically, each Bully Cup match pits two members from the west against two from the east in individual and team matches. The format is purposely complicated so confusion and corruption are typically the overriding theme each year. That year, I was paired with one of my oldest friends and another NTGCSA legend, Dan Wegand.
About 10 holes into the match, we realized that the other side was actually keeping score, and we were in a lot of trouble. Our worthy opponents included a young buck we had really never heard of: Jay Stine. Mr. Stine, as we know him today, has turned out to be a big part of Bully Cup history himself over the years. After a few more holes, we knew these whippersnappers weren’t going to show their elders due respect. We stood on the 15th tee, 4 down with 4 to play.
I wouldn’t really call Dan’s tee shot a shank, but it was further right than a Rush Limbaugh rant. Since my tee shot was resting comfortably in a watery grave on the other side of the world, we had to find it in the Sky Creek National Forest or the match would be over. We imposed the elder’s five-minute search extension rule and finally found it (or one similar to it) at least 50 yards from the fairway in the deep woods with absolutely no shot. Upon further review, we noticed that the ball was actually resting against a small mammal bone. Dan immediately claimed to be a rules expert and lectured Buck and Wild that not only could we remove the bone, but we were allowed to move it a club length or two to get at least a fighting chance. They were so bored at this point, they shrugged it off and said "whatever."
Before Dan addressed the ball for the next shot I reached down and unceremoniously picked up the bone, waving it over his ball for good luck. Dan’s handicap was about a 12 at that time, but the shot he hit would have made even the 2000 version of Tiger Woods proud. It would make the 2015 Tiger believe he could make a cut again someday. He actually got it back to the fairway and within a hundred yards of the green. Next shot was another masterpiece that gave him a gimmie and a very fancy par. By the time we met back with our opponents on the green we had figured out that the bone was pure magic, and we waved it over every shot we hit for the rest of the round like a couple of genies. You guessed it: 3 down with 3 to play, 2 down with 2 to play, 1 down with 1 to play, yahtzee!!
To say we railroaded those boys wouldn’t be fair to trains. The west won the matches that day thanks to our half. We’ve told our story so many times that we finally have a version most people believe.
So where does Bully come in? Of course, the bone immediately became the symbol for prosperity and good fortune for all North Texas GCSA members. It was decided that day that the bone would be the prize for the winning team for the annual matches, and a very prominent DFW artist was commissioned to design and build a fitting trophy to showcase the award. He vehemently declined so the chapter was stuck with whatever nonsense I came up with and the result was the now famous Bully, who stands guard over the very bone that was used that day in 2000 to rescue some lost westsiders.
The more observant of you will realize that Bully is a Boxer. We've been notified about that by the American Kennel Club and lawsuits are pending. That may be why he's always in a bad mood. He is softening some and even has a twitter account @ntgcsabully. Rumor has it he will be live tweeting next week. . .
So, Bully still stands over the bone, and North Texas GCSA members will battle in 2015 at Bully Cup XIX to see who gets to take him home and enjoy the well-deserved accolades and rewards. And now you know about as much about the truth as anyone can remember.
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