Richard Dunn
A cheer and a toast and wishes for luck's boast to Costa Mesa's
Phil Arnold, who has been enduring various physical ailments of late that
have kept him away from the golf course at Santa Ana Country Club.
Over the years, Arnold, the inventor of the outdoor gas barbecue, has
been smoking at Santa Ana Country Club, and not just because his house is
along the eighth fairway.
Arnold was the club's 2000 Exclusives Champion and won the Bob
Fernandez Memorial trophy that same year, after winning the President's
Cup for the third time in 1999 (after 1992 and '94).
A two-time seniors champion at Santa Ana, Arnold captured five
Seniors' Old Crow Division titles and, in 1989, won the Seniors'
Renaissance Division.
Hats off to one of Santa Ana Country Club's all-time great winners.
Defending Newport Beach Country Club men's club champion Vinnie
Brascia, who played in the Jones Cup last summer with head pro Paul Hahn,
said Wednesday his final day as a member at Newport Beach is May 25 and,
thus, will not play in this year's club championship.
Brascia, who lives in South Orange County, moved his office from
Newport Beach to Mission Viejo, and, with a second child on the way,
opted to stay closer to home and is ending his membership.
The Newport Beach men's club championship, which concludes June 2, is
the fourth and final championship to be decided to set the lineup for the
third annual Jones Cup on July 26 at Big Canyon Country Club.
Danny Lane (Big Canyon), Pete Daley (Mesa Verde Country Club) and
Gregg Hemphill (Santa Ana) have already locked up club titles heading
into Jones Cup III.
With Brascia clearing the way, others expected to contend for this
year's Newport Beach men's club title include new member Jeff Wright,
four-time champion Jim Whitaker (1990, '93, '95 and '98), two-time winner
Joe Stafford (1997 and '99) and Kent Pfeiffer.
The Jones Cup, created out of these pages, features a better-ball of
partners format with the four clubs in the Daily Pilot circulation
serving as host of the event on a rotating basis.
Jimmy Adams of Lido Isle captured the recent North American Senior
Tour event at Temecula Creek Inn, firing a 36-hole total of 141 to win
$1,000.
Keith Wyrick, the affable starter at Newport Beach Golf Course, placed
second at Temecula Creek with a 142, earning $700. Mike Kruger (Redlands)
and Nobu Nishikori (Temecula) tied for third at 144 and pocketed $450
each.
The Orange County Chapter of Childhelp USA will host its 20th annual
