Jones Cup to honor Halfacre

The Jones Cup golf tournament has long been known for pitting some of Orange County’s best amateur and professional golfers against each other, but this year’s event will mark the first time part of its proceeds will go to charity.

Sponsored by Fletcher Jones Motorcars, this year’s tournament will honor Newport Beach businessman and philanthropist Marion Halfacre, who died earlier this year.

“I am proud to have counted myself among Marion’s friends,” said Garth Blumenthal, general manager of Fletcher Jones Motorcars. “He was a warm and giving spirit whose sincerity and generosity left an indelible impact on our community.”

The Newport Beach dealership has pledged a minimum of $5,000 to one of Halfacre’s favorite charities, the Irvine-based Cystinosis Research Foundation.

“We miss Marion every day, and we were so amazed to be chosen for this,” said Nancy Stack of Corona del Mar, who co-founded the Cystinosis Research Foundation to help fund research for the disease, which afflicts her 16-year-old daughter, Natalie. “[Halfacre] was so generous and caring with the charities he supported that I think each one felt like his favorite, but our daughters have the same name, Natalie, so I think we shared a special connection there.”

Halfacre died June 8 of heart complications in front of his house in Corona del Mar. He had just returned from an award ceremony where he was honored as Commodore of the Year by the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce Commodores. Halfacre, who owned Traditional Jewelers in Newport Beach, was well-known in the business community for his support of numerous local charities.

Cystinosis is a hereditary metabolic disease that affects an estimated 500 people in the United States and about 2,000 worldwide, according to the Cystinosis Research Foundation website. The rare disease causes organ tissues to die, which can cause blindness and kidney failure among other health problems.

The Cystinosis Research Foundation has received numerous contributions in Halfacre’s honor after his death, which his family requested in lieu of flowers.

“We have received so many notes and cards and remembrances of him since he passed away, it has been overwhelming,” Stack said.

Donations in Halfacre’s honor will go to research on treating and curing cystinosis, she said.

“It’s such a rare disease that there was very little research being funded before the foundation began,” Stack said. “It really gives us hope to know that there are studies being done now.”

The foundation has funded 25 research studies since it started about four years ago, Stack said. Plans are underway to announce a call for project ideas for further research this fall, thanks in part to donations that have been made in Halfacre’s honor.

The Jones Cup tournament will tee off at 1 p.m. Thursday at Big Canyon Country Club, 1 Big Canyon Drive, Newport Beach.

Tournament teams consist of three amateur and two professional golfers. Men and women play together in the event. Final scores will be calculated by using the teams’ two best balls for each hole.

Among other prizes, the two amateur players with the lowest gross round will go on to represent Fletcher Jones Motorcars at the upcoming Mercedes-Benz Championships in Kapalua, Hawaii.