Lovejoy leaves rivals behind

When telling the history of the Jones Cup, one need only to apply Six Degrees of Bob Lovejoy.

Just as trivia buffs play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon to link actors, through a progression of film roles, to Bacon, one can’t get far into the six-year history of the 18-hole golf match between representatives from the four Newport-Mesa private clubs, without referencing Lovejoy, the director of golf at Big Canyon Country Club.

Lovejoy has played a leading role in four Jones Cup victories, sharing those spoils with six different partners, spanning two separate formats.

He will try for win No. 5 today at 1 p.m., when he leads a five-player team from Big Canyon against contingents from Mesa Verde, Newport Beach and Santa Ana country clubs at Mesa Verde.

Each team consists of the director of golf or head professional, a club professional, the men’s and women’s club champions or representatives, and the senior club champion or representative. The five teams compete in a team best gross ball format.

Big Canyon won the sixth Jones Cup event last year, edging Newport Beach Country Club by one stroke. Lovejoy was joined on that winning fivesome by club professional Clint Whitehill, men’s champion Danny Lane, women’s champion Martha Redfearn and senior champion Dave Quisling.

Lovejoy is the only member of that group competing today, when the Big Canyon fivesome will include club professional Robert Pang, men’s representative Mike Carpenter, women’s representative Olivia Slutzky and senior club champion Warren Caves.

The five-player format began last year after four-player teams competed in 2004.

The first four Jones Cup events featured two-man teams representing each club. The typical format was the director of golf/head professional paired with an amateur from his club, most often the men’s club champion.

In the two-man format, Lovejoy won three straight Jones Cup titles, with three separate partners.

In 2001, it was Lovejoy and Ron Maggard who prevailed in a three-hole playoff with Mike Reehl and Gregg Hemphill from the Santa Ana Country Club.

In 2002, Lovejoy and Lane were two shots better than co-runners-up Santa Ana and Mesa Verde.

In 2003, Lovejoy and Will Tipton edged runners-up Tom Sargent and Steve Rhorer from Mesa Verde Country Club by one stroke.

In 2004, Lovejoy and three partners shared runner-up status, as Newport Beach Country Club broke the Big Canyon stranglehold on the title.

Sargent and Pete Daley brought the inaugural Jones Cup triumph back to Mesa Verde in 2000.

When asked to explain his dominance in the event, Lovejoy offered two potential reasons.

“I’ve had some very good partners and there has been some good fortune on our part,” Lovejoy said.

Newport Beach head professional Paul Hahn, who joins Lovejoy and Sargent as the only players to compete in the previous six Jones Cup events, offered his own thoughts on Lovejoy’s success.

“I haven’t figured it out yet,” Hahn said. “Bob is definitely a good player. He must have that innate ability to play when he needs to.”

Lovejoy said he approaches the Jones Cup as a day to savor.

“I enjoy it, our members enjoy it and the other participants enjoy it,” Lovejoy said. “What I’ve tried to help everybody realize is to have fun. The competition against the other clubs is very nice, but I want to try to do the best I can, enjoy a good day of golf and let the chips fall where they may.”

Lovejoy said he will enjoy playing today with his four partners.

Pang, who came to Big Canyon as head professional in May, worked previously at the Los Angeles Country Club.

“He’s an outstanding young man, a good player and a good person,” Lovejoy said of Pang.

Carpenter, filling in for reigning club champion Don DuBois, won the club’s match-play championship.

“Mike is a great athlete and a very good player,” Lovejoy said. “He grew up at this club when his parents were members and now he is a member on his own.”

Slutzky, filling in for reigning club champion Redfearn (on vacation), has been the runner-up in the last two Big Canyon women’s club championships. She won the club women’s crown in 2001 and 2002.

Slutzky played in the Tea Cup Classic, a precursor to the Jones Cup, in 2001 and 2002. In 2002, she finished second after Marianne Towersey (who won five of the seven Tea Cup Classic events) made an 11-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to win.

Caves, a longtime member, had won six titles in the Big Canyon member-guest championship through 2005.

Caves qualified for the Southern California Golf Assn. Mid-Amateur Championship in 2005 and 2006 and won the senior flight at the Costa Mesa City championships in 2006 and 2004.