Cochrane talks about practice for Jones Cup

Santa Ana Country Club is primed to compete for the Jones Cup Tuesday with a priority goal in mind and a little extra concentrated preparation. All five members of captain Geoff Cochrane’s squad showed up for a practice round together last week at Big Canyon Country Club where the event will take place Tuesday.

“Yeah, I think it was very important. Just because for us, it’s five people that typically wouldn’t play together very much,” said Cochrane, the PGA Director of Golf at Santa Ana. “Just to get out there and get a feel for how everybody is comfortable on the golf course and try to figure out who likes to attack and who likes to play conservative, I think it was very helpful.”

“Everybody’s practicing, the pros are playing better than ever, everybody’s getting their game together trying to be competitive,” said Boyd Martin, the senior club champion. Along with teaching pro Nick Kumpis, the Santa Ana team is rounded by 26-year old club champion Joe Doody and women’s runner-up Liz Slater, all experienced Jones Cup competitors.

“I think we feel this is our best and strongest team we’ve had – ever,” Martin said.

Doody, a former standout at Orange Coast College has been on his game this year. He finished second in the highly competitive SCGA Mid-Amateur at Santa Ana in April.

Although Slater is not the reigning Santa Ana women’s champ, she has been several times in the past and could be a key to the team’s success. Madeleine Campbell took the club tournament this year but she’s also the women’s champ at Mesas Verde for which she’ll play in the Jones Cup this year.

“Having a lady in there that can reach the greens, which Liz can do and she was making putts for birdie, it just lifts everyone up,” Martin said of the team’s practice round together.

The 16th annual tournament featuring five-member teams of pros and champions from a handful of local clubs in best-ball competition tees off at 11:30 Tuesday. According to Cochrane, the primary goal for Santa Ana is to have fun. But there’s a fine line between having a good time and the ultimate prize, as Santa Ana knows all too well, being the only one of the original clubs in the competition that has not taken home the cup.

“I figured you were going to remind me of that,” Cochrane said, almost threatening a grin. “It’s a fun event and we want to have fun, but we’re all as competitive as anyone else and we’d like to win one as well.”

“We’ve come close,” added Martin with optimism. “I’ve been on eight of these things and I’ve never seen the team as well balanced as it is now.”

With the weekend before the tournament offering a little more time to fine-tune some strokes, it’s not too early for the competition to begin. Asked to assess the field, Martin, a 63-year old veteran golfer from Corona del Mar let the gamesmanship fly.

“Usually the team at Big Canyon is just head and shoulders more talented than everyone else. You can quote me on that,” said a smiling Martin. “So it’s theirs to lose, always.”