Jones Cup: Santa Ana’s winless streak intact

In a year in which Cleveland ended a 54-year sports title drought, Leicester City bucked 5,000-1 odds to win its first English Premier League top-tier crown, and the Chicago Cubs are threating to win a World Series for the first time since 1908, Santa Ana Country Club continues to shrug against its Jones Cup curse.

“I would certainly like to win one, so I don’t have to talk about that anymore,” said Santa Ana PGA director of golf and team captain Geoff Cochrane, after his team ensured he’d have to account for the “O-for” futility for at least another year.

Santa Ana finished five-under par to place fourth in the five-team community golf event held Wednesday at Newport Beach Country Club.

The team posted a pair of birdies in the two-best-ball format on the opening hole, and registered seven birdies and one eagle on the day.

But, alas, its all-time Jones Cup highlights remain sharing a runner-up finish after losing in a three-team playoff in 2008, and dropping a three-hole playoff to settle for second in Jones Cup II in 2001.

“I have a little quote I learned from my gramps that is ‘One at a time,’” said Cochrane, who has played in more than a dozen of the 17 Jones Cup events. “[The quote] is actually on the side of my golf ball. And that’s all you can do.”

All Santa Ana could do after its opening hole was produce one birdie over the next nine holes, after which it’s four bogeys during that span put the club at one-over.

A birdie by men’s club champion Joe Doody on No. 11 got Santa Ana back even and birdies from Cochrane and club professional Nick Kumpis restored its score to its opening-hole luster (two-under).

The real fireworks came on the par-five 15th hole, when Kumpis sank a nine-foot eagle putt and Doody, a former standout at Orange Coast College, drained a seven-footer for birdie to allow Santa Ana to pick up three strokes and finish at five-under.

“Nick hit two great shots in there and made the putt as well,” Cochrane said of the eagle on the 491-yard hole. “[Kumpis] hits it a mile. I don’t know what club he hit [into the green], but it was probably a middle iron. And I’m back there hitting my hybrid.”

Kumpis had two birdies and an eagle, while Doody collected three birdies and was the team’s most consistent threat all day. Krumpis netted his second birdie on No. 13 by sinking a 21-foot putt.

Men’s senior champion Boyd Martin carded his birdie with a 15-foot putt on the opening hole, while club women’s champion Liz Slater consistently found the fairway, but failed to subvert par on any hole.

Santa Ana had to absorb a pair of bogeys on the par-three No. 8 hole, which made if four momentum-sucking bogeys on its scorecard over a three-hole span.

“We wasted a birdie [by Kumpis] on No. 6 [a 422-yard par-four] because we had to take a bogey,” Cochrane said. “In this format, you have to have as many birdie putts as you can, which means you have to hit it close, all day. When you have one person hit the green and the other four are just struggling to make [par], it’s tough. We talked about that as a team beforehand, but coming out here and doing it under het gun is different than discussions.”

Santa Ana was also under the gun, due to its course being closed for major renovations since February.

“Our course is closed [scheduled to reopen in November], so we haven’t had a [driving] range,” Cochrane said. “We’ve been trying to sneak around and hit balls various places. We’ve all been joking that this could be the year [the Jones Cup curse] ends in a year when we didn’t get to play or practice [on our home course] to prepare.”

Kumpis, who has played in the last five Jones Cup events, said the streak is not, one might say, the elephant on the course.

“I don’t think anybody worries about [the drought],” Kumpis said. “We really don’t think about not [having won], we just have to go out and play.”

Cochrane said despite never having posed with the trophy, he looks forward to the Jones Cup competition.

“Ultimately, this is a fun day for me to come represent the club, play with a group of members and have some 30 members walking behind us. And so it’s a fun event.”