If you’ve spent any time in Montauk during the summer, chances are you’ve ended up on the dock at Puff & Putt. Or maybe you’ve tried your luck on the mini golf course, chased a snapping turtle around Fort Pond, or run into Iron Man while renting a kayak. All in a day’s work for the Cucci family.

The story starts in the early ’70s, when the Cuccis began making the trip out from Huntington. In 1972, family patriarch Pete Cucci bought the Lido Motel. A few years later, his son Joe—who was working at Puff & Putt for the previous owners—ran home one day with some news: the place was up for sale. Pete sold the motel and bought Puff & Putt in 1977. The rest, as they say, is Montauk history.

Since then, it’s been a full-on family affair. Joe, his three sisters, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins—everyone pitched in, especially in those early days when Montauk was still a little quieter and a little more rough around the edges. Over the years, the course has evolved, boats have come and gone, and they’ve replaced more greens than they can count. But the spirit of it has always stayed the same.

The name came from the previous owners, but it fits. “Puff” as in a puff of wind on the water, and “Putt” for, well, putting. Though given it was named in the ’60s, it’s safe to say there might’ve been a wink and a nod in there too.

Before all that, the spot was called Poor Richard’s Yacht Club. Over time, the Cuccis have rented everything from trimarans and lasers to Hobie Cats, canoes, kayaks, pedal boats, and paddleboards. Pete—an Italian engineer through and through—basically rebuilt the whole place himself. His son Joe now runs the sailing side of things and has since the early ’90s.

They’ve had their share of recognizable faces stop by over the years—Bill Clinton, the Baldwin brothers, Gwyneth Paltrow, Iron Man, and “that lady from Law & Order,” to name a few. But it’s the regulars that matter most. The families who come back year after year. The kids who grow up here and return with kids of their own.

The upstairs arcade eventually turned into a merch shop, and now it’s rented out. Pathfinder Day Camp has been sailing here for years. And Fort Pond itself—just a mile and a half long, spring-fed, and home to some of the most diverse freshwater fishing on Long Island—is as much a part of the Cucci story as anything.

Next year will mark their 50th summer at Puff & Putt. Though the beloved matriarch of the family has passed, her legacy is very much alive. Aunt Jill’s still at the window, the dogs are still on guard, and four generations of Cuccis still keep the place running—with a little help from family, friends, and a few Irish kids on the dock.