Jones Cup: Big Canyon is third

Pink wristbands were given out prior to the start of the 17th annual Jones Cup golf tournament Wednesday, matching the shirt color worn by the five players on Big Canyon Country Club’s team.

The wristbands were for access to food and drink after the tournament came to an end. The Big Canyon players — head professional and team captain Robert Pang, professional Chris Valeriano, men’s club champion Will Tipton, ladies club champion Jillian Braverman and senior men’s champion Don DuBois — didn’t want to be getting a drink quite so quickly at Newport Beach Country Club.

They were just spectators as Mesa Verde beat Shady Canyon in a one-hole playoff to win the tournament. Big Canyon finished third after recording a score of eight-under par in the two-best-ball format.

Big Canyon owns the most Jones Cup titles, nine, among the five clubs competing. But, for the first time since the tournament began in 2000, Big Canyon is now in a three-year drought, having captured its last title in 2013.

“The thing is, it’s golf,” Pang said. “You’ve got to come out and you’ve got to play. We’ve got five great players on each of these teams. It’s a matter of making birdies, and in this type of format you can’t make bogeys. Us having two bogeys was not the right formula, especially if you’re not making a lot of birdies on the other end of the whole thing.”

Big Canyon did have 10 birdies, including three apiece by DuBois and Tipton, as well as two by Pang. Pang and Tipton earned birdies on No. 2, while Pang and DuBois did the same on No. 3 to put Big Canyon at four-under par. Pang nearly extended his birdie streak to three holes, but a 15-foot putt on the next hole lipped out.

Big Canyon chased Mesa Verde for much of the front nine before finally catching the eventual winners. DuBois made the shot of the day for the team at No. 8, a 45-foot birdie from just off the green. And, after Tipton sank a five-foot birdie putt at No. 9, Big Canyon was tied for the lead at six-under.

But Big Canyon went just two-under on the back nine, including the two bogeys. They irked the team, starting at the par-four No. 11, which ranks 18th in men’s handicap (easiest) on the course.

Several of the players elected to drive relatively close to the green of the 345-yard hole. Yet, only DuBois was able to make par, and the team bogey dropped Big Canyon back to five-under.

“The strategy was probably incorrect there,” Tipton said. “[The green] calls for a full shot in, and our eyes got big and we tried to drive it up close to the green. And we had no chance.”

Big Canyon got the stroke back when DuBois birdied on No. 13. And, after Tipton and Braverman recorded birdies on the par-five No. 15, Big Canyon was back to eight-under, then just two strokes behind Mesa Verde and Shady Canyon.

Yet, it was another bogey on the par-three No. 17 that effectively ended Big Canyon’s chances. Only Valeriano and Braverman were able to find the green from the tee, and only Valeriano was able to make par.

“It was a back-right pin, but when you’ve got eight-irons and nine-irons in your hands, you’ve got to hit the green,” Pang said. “To only have two people on the green is pretty tough. We played a little bit more aggressive than we probably should have and hey, we didn’t come through.”

Faced with the daunting task of recording two eagles on the par-five 18th hole to force a three-team playoff, Big Canyon just got one birdie from Valeriano to finish at eight-under.

Big Canyon left the course hungry for another title.

“Next year,” were Braverman’s last words to Pang before taking off.

Tipton, who helped Big Canyon earn the Jones Cup title in 2008 by sinking a 20-foot eagle putt in a playoff, couldn’t quite deliver a repeat performance. But he said he had fun in his first Jones Cup appearance in several years.

“It was wonderful to be back,” Tipton said. “We had some great camaraderie, even though we stunk it up a bit.”