Who’s Newport-Mesa’s best female golfer?

Richard Dunn

NEWPORT BEACH--A four-way battle for the title of best woman golfer in

Newport-Mesa will begin today when the fourth annual Tea Cup Classic

kicks off at 2 p.m. at Big Canyon Country Club.

The golfers represent the champions of the four country clubs in

Newport Beach and Costa Mesa. Making up the foursome this year are Debbie

Albright (Newport Beach), Colette Taormina (Big Canyon). two-time

defending champion Marianne Towersey (Santa Ana) and Denise Woodard (Mesa

Verde).

The Tea Cup Classic, which is open to the public, has drawn galleries

of up to 500 people. Most spectators are from the four participating

country clubs, but also in the crowd are members of the Victorian Tea

Society, a group of ladies dressed in 1890s costumes, complete with

parasols.

The one-day event can induce a sense of pressure, especially since

most of the golfers have never played before a gallery.

“You get nervous being out there playing in front of all those

people,” Albright said.

On the 141-yard hole No. 7, the women will have added pressure. Any

golfer who makes a hole-in-one will win a new Mercedes-Benz ML320 sports

utility vehicle.

The Tea Cup Classic “is fun and I always look forward to it,

especially with the possibility of a hole-in-one and getting that car,”

said Woodard, the runner-up last year on her home course at Mesa Verde.

“You can hack the whole golf course and possibly still get a car. There’s

always hope.”

The event is sponsored by the Daily Pilot and Fletcher Jones

Motorcars.

Since starting the Tea Cup Classic, the Fletcher Jones Motorcars/Daily

Pilot Club Championship Series has also launched the Jones Cup, a pro-am

for men.

The inaugural event was played at Newport Beach last month and won by

Mesa Verde’s head professional, Tom Sargent, and men’s club champion Pete

Daley.