GOLF:

The idea was a simple one, but implementing it proved to be more difficult than expected, though the reward was certainly worth it.

Richard Dunn, who worked for the Daily Pilot for 24 years, was existing through the dog days of summer, the local sports scene almost at a crawl.

One of his duties was golf and through covering club championships at the four local country clubs; Mesa Verde, Newport Beach, Big Canyon and Santa Ana, saw that the same women seemed to be winning almost every year.

So Dunn devised a competition for the four winners of the club championship and thought it was a perfect idea for a summer event.

“I wrote a column saying let’s get these women together for a showdown,” Dunn said. “I basically laid out the entire tournament in that column.”

The idea was met with resistance, but Dunn was persistent and found an ally in the newspaper’s publisher, Tom Johnson.

“It was a great way to showcase the community and promote women’s golf,” Dunn said. “I was relentless. I knew it would work.”

It did and the Tea Cup held its first event in 1997. After three years, Dunn and others decided to include the men and the Jones Cup was born. The tournament was able to get the involvement of Fletcher Jones Motor Cars as a sponsor and the first year proved to be one of the most exciting of the event.

The format for the first year was the head professional and the men’s club champion. Tom Sargent, Mesa Verde Country Club’s head professional and Pete Daley, the 2000 club champion, were a stroke down going into the 18th hole at Newport Beach Country Club. Sargent nearly reached the green in two, his ball about 10 yards off the green.

The problem was the ball was down in deep rough and Sargent thought the ball was embedded. It wasn’t and he was faced with a difficult chip shot. He used a 57 degree wedge and hit a flop shot that came to rest three feet from the hole. He made the putt and the team won by a stroke.

“These events were so much fun, it was really a chance to do something special for the golfing community,” Dunn said. “Everyone really looked forward to it.”

The tournament format was changed in 2006 and now features five golfers, usually two club pros, a men’s champ, a women’s champion and the top male senior, competing in a best-ball format. This year’s Jones Cup, the ninth annual, will be played July 8 at Newport Beach Country Club.

“The hardest part was getting the date nailed down,” Dunn said. “That was always tough. We always had people traveling or competing in golf events somewhere else.”

Dunn left the paper a couple of years ago and started his own successful writing business, but he always anticipates the event he helped create.

“It is something to be proud of,” Dunn said. “It started as something to sell papers in the summer. But it really warms my heart every year when it comes around.

“I hope it stays around forever.”

JOHN REGER’S golf column appears Thursdays.