Annual events all set

Richard Dunn

The venerable Tea Cup Classic for women and Jones Cup for men, the

Newport-Mesa community golf tournaments that feature club champions

from all four private country clubs in this newspaper’s circulation,

will be held at Mesa Verde Country Club this summer.

The seventh annual Tea Cup Classic, which spotlights the four

women’s club champions from Big Canyon Country Club, Newport Beach

Country Club, Santa Ana Country Club and Mesa Verde, is slated for

July 25, Mesa Verde head professional Tom Sargent said.

The Jones Cup, a better ball of partners pro-am with two foursomes

teeing off back-to-back and two galleries in tow, will be played Aug.

1 at Mesa Verde, one week after Tea Cup Classic VII.

It is the first time a club has hosted both events in the same

summer, which might set a precedent for the other clubs in terms

operation, convenience and timing.

Mesa Verde’s turn in the rotation to host last year’s Tea Cup

Classic was postponed because of a major clubhouse renovation

project. Mesa Verde’s new facility opened earlier this year and

myriad events are planned this summer, including the aforementioned

one-day, 18-hole events.

Of the amateur players in the Tea Cup Classic and Jones Cup, each

club champion is invited to play, but certainly under no obligation

whatsoever to participate. The midsummer Friday dates for the Tea Cup

Classic and Jones Cup are locked into the club’s busy schedule. It is

not mandatory for a club champion to participate; runners-up (or

another amateur suggested by the club) will fill in for a player

unable to play.

The Tea Cup Classic was launched by this sports section to

determine an overall women’s champion in the Newport-Mesa community,

following a slew of large margins of victory. It was also created to

promote women’s golf, bring the golf community closer together and

celebrate the area’s four women’s club champions in a special one-day

format.

Santa Ana Country Club’s Marianne Towersey, who captured her 19th

club championship this year, is the defending Tea Cup champion. She

has also won four of the last five Tea Cup titles.

Newport Beach Country Club’s Debbie Albright, the 2001 Tea Cup

winner, won her eighth straight women’s club championship May 15 when

she shot 85-82-80-77--324 to win by 11 shots. Janice Sauter (335) and

Nancy Curci (338) were Albright’s closest competitors.

Mesa Verde’s Akemi Khaiat and Big Canyon’s Sally Holstein also won

club championships this spring to automatically qualify for an

invitation to Tea Cup Classic VII.

The Jones Cup, won the last two years by Big Canyon with Director

of Golf Bob Lovejoy playing with amateur champions Ron Maggard in

2001 and Danny Lane last year, was launched as a way to spotlight the

local directors of golf and head pros, as well as feature men’s club

champions in their special day.

Each of the four clubs rotate as host site of the Jones Cup and

the Tea Cup Classic, which are played under the auspices of the

Fletcher Jones Motorcars/Daily Pilot Club Championship Series.

The public is invited to gallery at either or both events as long

as individuals meet the required dress code. Food and beverage carts

(with bar) typically ride along with the galleries.

Mesa Verde won the inaugural Jones Cup in 2000 at Newport Beach,

when Sargent birdied 18 after a remarkable flop shot with his ball

deeply embedded into the thick rough.

Sargent earned local legend status that year, then Lovejoy and

Maggard captured Jones Cup II in a three-hole playoff against Santa

Ana. Last year, Lovejoy and Lane won Jones Cup III in thrilling

fashion after a shaky start on their home course as Big Canyon

celebrated with another title, its third in the series. (Big Canyon’s

Selby Schriber won the inaugural Tea Cup Classic in 1997.)

Last year might have been the most compelling finish in Tea Cup

Classic history, as Towersey saved her best putt for the end, sinking

a dramatic 11-foot birdie putt at the par-5 18. It was an uphill,

right-to-left breaker with Big Canyon’s Olivia Slutzky breathing down

her neck while staring at a 4-foot birdie attempt to force a possible

playoff.

“I can’t believe I had that [putt] in me. I’m so tired,” Towersey

said after winning Tea Cup Classic VI on her home course.

More thrills are expected this summer. Stay tuned.