Bearer in the hunt

Newport Beach Country Club’s men’s championship is halfway home with

the final 36 holes slated for Saturday and Sunday.

Bruce Bearer (73-73--146) leads John Rapillo (72-77--149), Brad

Casdorph (79-72--151) and Bob Kraft (77-76--153) after the first 36

holes.

The cut was listed at 161 and lower, giving 17 golfers the

opportunity to tee it up this weekend. After Saturday’s round the

field will be trimmed to the lowest eight scores and ties.

Sunday’s champion will join Big Canyon Country Club’s Will Tipton

and Mesa Verde Country Club’s Steve Rhorer, who each claimed their

respective club championships in the fall, as those to have qualified

for this summer’s Jones Cup, slated Aug. 1 at Mesa Verde.

The Jones Cup, which pairs the club champion with the head

professional from each of the four private clubs in this newspaper’s

circulation area. The tournament features a better-ball of partners

format with two foursomes teeing off back-to-back.

Santa Ana Country Club will hold its men’s club championship over

five days: June 20-22 and June 27-28. Sixteen golfers will tee off in

a match-play format to determine the fourth, and final, men’s club

champion to qualify for the Jones Cup.

In NBCC’s Super Senior (ages 65 and older) championship concluded

Sunday, Jim Keane (81-77--158) beat out Bill Wilkerson (86-86--172)

while Kraft won the Senior Division (55 and older) title with a 153

(77-76). Harry Esayian (75-80--155) and Jim Glidewell (77-78--155)

tied for second to Kraft.

*

All four women’s club champions have verbally confirmed they will

play in the Tea Cup Classic, held July 25 at Mesa Verde.

Defending Tea Cup champion Marianne Towersey, from Santa Ana

Country Club, will duel Mesa Verde’s Akemi Khaiat, Big Canyon’s Sally

Holstein and Newport Beach’s Debbie Albright in the one-day, 18-hole

event.

*

Dates for the 2004 Toshiba Senior Classic have been finalized. The

tournament will he held March 15-21 at Newport Beach Country Club,

essentially the same week as last year’s event. It will be preceded

by the MasterCard Classic in Mexico and the SBC Classic in Valencia,

Calif.

Notice no change in the tournament’s name.

With the re-branding of the Senior Tour as the Champions Tour in

2002, some tournament committees have removed the word “senior” from

their names, but not so with Toshiba.

The purse for next year’s tournament will be $1.6 million, which

will play host to 81 professional players from the Champions Tour.

The Hoag Hospital Foundation operates the event while serving as the

tournament’s lead charity.

Log on to ToshibaSeniorClassic.com, or call (949) 660-1001 for

more information.