Golf column: Jones Cup field now complete

Richard Dunn

As we move inside a month of Jones Cup III, the four men’s teams

are set for the ultimate community pro-am.

And, the fact that Big Canyon Country Club is the defending champion

and also hosting this year’s Jones Cup on July 26, is only a coincidence.

Each of the four private clubs in the Daily Pilot circulation area

enjoy ownership of the event and rotate as host each summer. The format

is better-ball of partners.

Participants in the Jones Cup are selected by the respective clubs,

with each team consisting of a pro (any staff member) and an amateur (a

dues-paying club member).

The Daily Pilot sports department, which created the Jones Cup through

the Fletcher Jones Motorcars/Daily Pilot Club Championship Series, urges

each club’s top golf professional to participate, along with the men’s

club champion as a reward for their title or top-flight amateur.

Bob Lovejoy, Director of Golf at Big Canyon, confirmed Wednesday that

he will play with amateur Danny Lane in Jones Cup III and try to defend

Big Canyon’s title.

Big Canyon defeated Santa Ana Country Club in a three-hole playoff

last year with Lovejoy and 2000 Big Canyon men’s club champion Ron

Maggard. Maggard was unable to defend his Big Canyon crown in 2001

because he was stranded out of town following the Sept. 11 terrorist

attacks.

Mesa Verde Country Club, which won the inaugural Jones Cup in 2000,

will once again feature head pro Tom Sargent and senior amateur standout

Pete Daley, while Santa Ana will return its same team from last year --

Director of Golf Mike Reehl and men’s club champion Gregg Hemphill.

The pro-am team from Newport Beach Country Club will be head pro Paul

Hahn and amateur Jeff Wright, a Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Famer and

former Orange County Player of the Year at Corona del Mar High.

Hahn said the Newport Beach men’s club champion, Jim Whitaker,

declined the invitation to play. Wright led this year’s club championship

after two rounds before being disqualified because he played the wrong

ball after hitting a second tee shot on the par-4 No. 6.

Wright, a new member at Newport Beach, grew up playing the golf course

when it was called Irvine Coast Country Club in the 1970s and early ‘80s.

The Jones Cup, along with the Tea Cup Classic for women, was started

to spotlight local amateurs, promote the game of golf and bring the

Newport-Mesa golf community together on an annual basis.

“Magic” Passo of Newport Beach and Twyla Martin of Laguna Beach

captured this year’s Ladies Balboa Tournament at Big Canyon Country Club

recently.

The duo posted the lowest net score (124) in a field of 106 women in

three flights. The two-day better-ball of partners was held under misty

skies and included several social events chaired by Pamela Hoffman

(Newport Beach) and Judy Barry (Linda Isle).

Other Balboa low-gross flight winners included: Flight A, Martha

Redfearn and Laura Holbrook (Friendly Hills); flight B, Toshi Murai and

Stella Tanaka (Coto de Caza); flight C, Nancy Bushnell and Donna Blue (El

Niguel).

Low-net winners included: Flight A, Sue Stern and Ronnie Shore

(Losantiville); flight B, Ellie Quisling and Arlene Moore (Santa Ana);

flight C, Lori Gollob and Mary Cornell (PGA West).

In a hotly contested Costa Mesa men’s club championship at Costa Mesa

Golf & Country Club, Jeff Thomas, a former pro from Modesto, captured the

2002 title.

Thomas shot 5-under-par 214 in the 54-hole championship, which was

played on the shorter Mesa Linda course on the first day, then on Los

Lagos the next two rounds.

Mark Les, the 1998 Costa Mesa men’s club champion, shot 3-over 217 to

finish second, while four-time champion Scott Kuhns was third at 6-over

220.

Other top finishers included: In flight A low net, Peter Kenny, Mike

McGinty, Billy Patch and Andy Horner.

In flight B, low-gross honors went to Jim Baker, Gene Sullivan and

Fred Morgan; low-net finishers were Mike Muscarella, Larry Green, Spencer

Noteboom and Duane Kleckner.

In flight C, low-gross winners were David Yee, James Lawhon and Bill

Moore. Low-net honorees were Bob Zedick, George Yablonsky, Nacho Espinoza

and Ted Zimmerman.

Richard Dunn’s golf column appears every Thursday.