Brian “Bucky” Utter believed if something was worth doing, it was worth doing in excess.
“That’s my brother all the way,” Fred Utter said. “He was the big Santa Claus at Christmas. He had big tailgate parties at OSU for all his customers. Everything was above and beyond. That was just him.”
National Brothers Day — May 24 — is a few days away. Though Fred lost his brother to cancer in 2015, Bucky’s name remains synonymous with doing things in excess. For instance: Raising money for charitable causes.
The Bucky, alias the Brian Utter Memorial Golf Tournament, has been staged annually since his passing. The charity golf tournaments have raised a total of $400,456. Proceeds have gone to the Oklahoma State University’s Coaches vs. Cancer program and the Owasso-based Folds of Honor Foundation, which awards educational scholarships to spouses and children of fallen and disabled service members.
“In our wildest dreams, I never thought this would happen,” Fred said during a conversation about the fundraising tournaments exceeding expectations. “I tell you what. I think we’re going to go over half a million next year.”
Born and raised in Tulsa, Bucky was a two-sport whiz at Nathan Hale High School, playing center field on a state champion baseball team in 1969. He was eyeballed by the Houston Astros, but, with minor league salaries of that era being on the wrong side of lucrative, he accepted a football scholarship and played tight end at Oklahoma State.