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The Jones Cup is a tournament that the four participating country clubs look forward to and it has gotten better each year it has been run.

This year Santa Ana Country Club was the host and there were several memorable moments for the event.

Two things impressed me immediately about the tournament. The first was the condition of the club. It was in immaculate shape and the greens looked flawless. The participants I talked to agreed. I’ve always been a fan of this classic layout but the staff at the club should be particularly proud of what they presented on Wednesday.

The second item I noticed was how well run the event was. Granted it’s only four groups, but there were standard bearers that had someone with them who was communicating with the other groups so the scores were constantly updated. I also liked the names on the back of the carts so you knew who was who.

Some other random moments and observations at the tournament:

 Newport Beach Country Club’s assistant professional, Carlo Borunda had his wife, Yuko and two-year old daughter, Sophia, in the gallery, watching.

Well not exactly watching. Sophia seemed more interested in playing in the lush grass and I can’t really say that I blame her. She did miss her dad make a nice eagle on the 10th hole.

 Mesa Verde Country Club’s men’s champion Preston Murray also made a birdie on No. 10, chipping in from 30 yards, but the highlight was short lived. His tee shot on the par-three No. 11 came up short and landed in the water that fronts the green.

Murray was definitely the fashion trend-setter at the event. He had on a Ralph Lauren polo shirt that had a supersized logo on the left breast of the red shirt. On the back was the word Scotland and the No. 3.

Apparently the shirt was bought at Macy’s 30 minutes before closing Tuesday night and one teammate wondered if adult beverages may have factored into the purchase decision.

 Another fashion standout was Chris Veitch. The Santa Ana Country Club senior champion was prowling the fairways with a black Greg Norman style hat. It looked a lot better than a regular baseball cap.

 Mesa Verde head professional Tom Sargent on how he prepared his team for the competition: “I had them sit in a Tibetan cave for four days with the Dali Lama.”

 Newport Beach head professional, Paul Hahn seemed to making every putt he attempted, but MVCC General Manager, Kim Porter wasn’t surprised.

Porter, who played against Hahn when the two were juniors said his putting prowess was evident back then.

“He was arguably the best putter in California growing up,” Porter said.

The two ended up at San Jose State on a golf team that included NBCC General Manager Perry Dickey, who was in attendance Wednesday, and PGA Tour players Mark Lye and Roger Maltbie.

 While Hahn was having good fortunes on the green, the bad break award has to go to Will Tipton. The Big Canyon Club Champion had a two-foot putt on No. 11 and watched in disbelief as it went 360 degrees around the hole looked like it was falling in and then popped out, staying on the lip.

 Big Canyon teammate Martha Redfearn, the club’s women’s champion, made up for it by making two 15-foot birdie putts during the day.

 Finally Santa Ana Country Club got skunked again, but really had no chance of winning. They were seven-under going into the 18th and were eight shots back of Mesa Verde.

Of course the rallying cry is going to have to be “Wait ‘til next year.”