Golf: Do the hustle

Richard Dunn

These guys are good. And I can’t wait for Jones Cup III next

summer.

During the second annual Jones Cup at Santa Ana Country Club, in which

Big Canyon Country Club defeated the host club in a three-hole playoff

Tuesday, I finally found my rhythm in trying to cover two foursomes

back-to-back.

It helps using a golf cart to speed in front of the first group, watch

them come up, then stay near the green and see the second group come up,

while keeping an eye on the first group teeing off on the next hole.

Then repeat the process.

It also helps having volunteer scorekeepers (Bob Price and Paul Smith)

and a rules official (Santa Ana assistant golf pro Dan Baker) to keep

everything in line.

With the unique format of the Jones Cup, a better-ball of partners,

and a small but cozy feel with two groups teeing off in succession, the

drama comes quick. “It’s a fun tournament, and the format’s really a lot

of fun,” Santa Ana men’s club champion Gregg Hemphill said.

The Jones Cup is not a charity tournament, but a celebration of the

men’s club champions and a showcase event for the Newport-Mesa

community’s club pros involving the four private country clubs in this

newspaper’s circulation.

“It’s the ideal partner format,” said Big Canyon men’s club champion

Ron Maggard, who teamed with Director of Golf Bob Lovejoy to win Jones

Cup II.

Last year, then-Big Canyon head professional Kelly Manos played with

club champion Steve Collins. Manos, now the Director of Golf at The Club

at Morningside in Rancho Mirage, was replaced at Big Canyon by Clint

Whitehill earlier this year. But Lovejoy, the club’s longtime pro,

decided to step in and join the friendly fray this year.

Santa Ana Director of Golf Mike Reehl, Mesa Verde Country Club head

pro Tom Sargent and Newport Beach Country Club head pro Paul Hahn, the

chiefs at their respective clubs, helped make Jones Cup II a high-profile

event.

It was fun watching children caddie for their golf-pro fathers, as son

Luke Sargent carried the bag for his dad, Tom, and Jilayne Lovejoy

caddied for her father, Bob.

Jeff Purser, the tournament director of the Toshiba Senior Classic,

caddied for Hahn.

Sargent, a fierce competitor always seeking an edge on the golf

course, ordered Tequila shooters for each of his three counterparts

during a pre-event luncheon. Neither Hahn, Lovejoy nor Reehl would go for

it, but it was a good try.

Spotted in the gallery Tuesday was local pro Eric Woods, whose Costa

Mesa-based indoor golf facility, the Golf Lab, is expanding.

The facility, owned and operated by the former two-time Canadian Tour

money winner from Corona del Mar, now features a 1,000-square foot

putting green and a large tent to provide more room inside.

Woods, a playing pro since 1988 and Order of Merit winner on the

Canadian Tour in 1993 and ‘94, said business is booming since opening his

doors about 1 1/2 years ago.

Dave Donnellan, a former assistant golf pro at Newport Beach Country

Club, is the new Director of Instruction at the Golf Lab.

The next event in the Junior Amateur Golf Scholars (JAGS) Summer

Series is Aug. 28-29 at Costa Mesa Golf & Country Club.

The JAGS Tour, a year-round tour for boys and girls 13-18, has seven 36-hole tournaments with no cut for the 2001 summer series. Details:

(562) 493-8416 or (714) 952-3316.

The 13th and final year of the Steve Van Horn Memorial Golf Tournament

scramble is Aug. 27 at Costa Mesa.

All proceeds of the tournament benefit the Steve Van Horn Memorial

Scholarship at Estancia High and the Steve Van Horn Foundation at

Fullerton College. The Estancia award will go to the outstanding senior

girl and outstanding senior boy student-athlete.

A former basketball great, Van Horn starred at Estancia and Fullerton

College, before he was killed in an accident while on vacation in Mexico

in March 1982.

His family started the golf tournament in 1989, and, even though this

will be the final year of the event, the family will continue to fund the

scholarship in the future.

Tee times are scheduled from noon to 1:15 p.m. on both the Los Lagos

and Mesa Linda courses. A free box lunch and unlimited beverages on the

course will also be provided. Cost is $125 per player. Details: (406)

995-2234.

Richard Dunn’s golf column appears every Thursday.