Fearsome foursomes

Bryce Alderton

The end of one era and the dawning of a new one for golf in the

Newport-Mesa community will be on display next month in a one-day

extravaganza.

The tournament might bear a familiar name, but the format will be

anything but a semblance of previous years.

The Jones Cup, contested over 18 holes at Newport Beach Country

Club Aug. 18, will group the women’s, men’s and senior club champion

-- or other deserving representative -- from each of the four private

country clubs in this newspaper’s circulation (Newport Beach, Santa

Ana Country Club, Mesa Verde Country Club and Big Canyon Country

Club).

Those three amateurs will partner with a member of that facility’s

golf staff in a best-ball competition for a day of golf unprecedented

in this community.

The one-day championship replaces the Tea Cup and former Jones Cup

tournaments.

Rumblings of a change to the Tea Cup’s format have swirled for

more than a year -- the championship, which began in 1997, pitted

each of the four club’s ladies champions against one another in an

18-hole, stroke-play event. Organizers felt the time was right for a

shakeup to the area’s golf landscape.

Newport Beach Country Club head professional Paul Hahn, who

participated in all four prior Jones Cup championships, said the

one-day golfing event is a step in the evolution of community golf.

“This is the best of both worlds in one day,” Hahn said. “The

Jones Cup spurred on [the latest Jones Cup] with the camaraderie and

the support. At the [former] Jones Cup, you also got to see more

people playing golf.”

The former Jones Cup paired the men’s champion from each of the

four clubs with a member of that facility’s golf staff in a better

ball of partners format through 18 holes.

“There was more interaction going on in the Jones Cup,” Hahn said.

“There was more pressure [in the Tea Cup] than what we were doing

because [the ladies] were responsible for their own ball whereas we

had partners. Anytime you have a partner it takes the pressure off.”

Mike Reehl and Bob Lovejoy, directors of golf at Santa Ana and Big

Canyon country clubs, respectively, along with Mesa Verde head

professional Tom Sargent, hailed the change.

“I like it more,” Reehl said of the one-day championship. “It was

time for a change. [The Tea Cup] was losing its luster. It will take

the pressure off the ladies.”

Marianne Towersey, who won the Tea Cup five times in its

seven-year run, was also excited to hear about the change.

“I’m thrilled,” said the 20-time women’s club champion at Santa

Ana. “There won’t be so much pressure on us now.”

The tentative golfers invited to play from each of the four clubs

are: Mesa Verde -- Sargent, Dave Irwin (men’s champion), Akemi Khaiat

(women’s champion), Steve Rhorer (senior champion); Newport Beach --

Hahn, Jeff Wright (men’s champion), Debbie Albright (women’s

champion), George Dahl (senior champion); Big Canyon -- Lovejoy, Will

Tipton (men’s champion), Sally Holstein (women’s champion); Santa Ana

-- Reehl or head pro Geoff Cochrane, Towersey (women’s champion),

Bill Welch (men’s champion), Boyd Martin (senior champion).