Jones Cup: Newport Beach plays gracious host

Defending champion Newport Beach Country Club couldn’t have been a more gracious host for the annual Jones Cup golf tournament Wednesday.

They didn’t let any of the guest teams finish behind them.

On their home course, the five-member NBCC team had what all concurred was a fun but frustrating day, finishing fifth out of five teams at two-under-par. That was nine strokes behind the leaders as Mesa Verde ultimately took the cup in a one-hole playoff with Shady Canyon.

“We enjoyed ourselves out here,” said NBCC Head Professional Carlo Borunda on his 44th birthday, “and we hope everybody else did.”

“It would have been a little more fun had we played a little better, which is always the case in golf,” said NBCC men’s and senior club champion Jeff Bloom.

Teeing off last among the five clubs, Newport Beach could already see that Mesa Verde was off to a fast start. Newport Beach didn’t gain any confidence when two birdie tries on the first hole missed the mark.

Jones Cup veteran Jan-Erik Palm, the senior representative on the team, put NBCC in red numbers when he nailed a 30-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the second hole, the first of only four scoring putts on the day.

Birdies were too few and far between, bogeys too prevalent for the Newport Beach team. And even par putts came at a premium.

“I don’t think we got enough balls on the greens in regulation, so we didn’t have enough birdie putts initially,” Palm said. “We kind of struggled trying to make par and we threw some bogeys in there, which wasn’t good.”

Palm’s competitive nature was evident describing the round. A former touring pro tennis player, Palm was playing at Wimbledon 35 years ago this week.

“I lost to some German guy. I don’t know his name,” Palm recalls of his grass-court moment of glory. “It was an awesome experience.”

The rallying cry over the front nine became “Come on Boys,” as the most consistent player for Newport Beach throughout the first half was the only player on the team wearing a skirt. Ladies club champion Ailam Newkirk birdied the troublesome par-three No. 5 hole and contributed a number of clutch par putts when her team needed them.

“I think I played pretty decent, pretty consistent,” Newkirk said. “I was just hoping I could pump up the boys a little more.”

It wasn’t to be as NBCC had only two more birdies on the back nine; Borunda on the par-four 11th and Bloom on the par-four 12th.

Newport Beach, which ended an 11-year title drought in the event last year, now turns over the Jones Cup to Mesa Verde.

“I was crying on the 14th hole,” quipped Newport Beach assistant professional Robbie Maurer. “I knew it was over.”

Added Palm: “What goes around, comes around. It was our turn last year and someone else’s turn this year.”