Mesa Verde hot streak not enough

With burned out patches of foliage lining the surrounding drought-ravaged hills, it seemed only a matter of time before a spark would ignite a blaze on Tuesday at Big Canyon Country Club.

And two holes after making the turn in the 16th annual Jones Club community golf tournament, Mesa Verde’s clubs doubled as kindling.

Mesa Verde put together five birdies in three holes, then added two more two holes later to go from worst to first among five clubs with five-person teams.

But the flame proved difficult to maintain, resulting in a three-way tie for third place and rendering Mesa Verde’s bid for its first Jones Cup title since 2010 merely a flicker.

“It was fun to be in the lead for a minute,” said men’s champion Eric Engelbert, who along with club professional Mike Fergin and senior champion Steve Rhorer paced the four-time Jones Cup champions all day. “I enjoyed [leading, by going from one-under par to six-under through 13 holes], and I wanted everybody to buckle down. But overall, I think we didn’t play well. We had some momentum, but kind of sputtered out.”

Mesa Verde, the first club to tee off on the course upon which all teams started on hole No. 10 and finished on No. 9, had just one birdie over its first 10 holes. But with the aforementioned hot streak, it entered its final two holes with a one-shot lead and finished its 17th hole in a three-way tie for the lead.

But that 17th hole — the 431-yard par-four No. 8 (the blue tee for the men) — was the only hole upon which Mesa Verde was forced to score one bogey, giving one shot back and moving from eight-under to seven-under.

Mesa Verde was short by six inches on par putts on its final hole to finish seven-under. When it was over, that was good enough to tie defending champion Shady Canyon and Santa Ana for third. Newport Beach, with two birdies on its 17th hole (also No. 8), finished 10-under to claim the crown. Big Canyon, the heavily favored host which had won three of the last four years and had claimed nine titles overall, finished eight-under to place second.

Fergin had four birdies that scored, including his team’s only sub-par number over its first 10 holes.

Fergin made an eight-foot birdie putt on the fourth hole (the par-four No. 13), to produce the lone flash of brilliance before the blazing five-hole stretch early after the turn.

Fergin also had seven pars that scored in the two-best-ball format and contributed three birdies during the team’s sizzling stretch.

Fergin dropped in a six-foot putt on the par-5 No. 2 hole for his second birdie, then added birdies by draining a 10-footer on the par-4 No. 4, and converting a nine-footer on the par-5 No. 6.

“We really struggled on the front side,” said Engelbert, whose birdie four on hole No. 6 scored. Engelbert was awaiting a one-foot birdie putt on No. 2, but two birdies preceded him, making it unnecessary to finish the hole.

Engelbert, playing in his first Jones Cup, had 10 birdies score and picked up another would-be par putt from two feet when two pars preceded him to score on the hole.

Rhorer, a Jones Cup veteran who played on the victorious 2010 squad, holed a six-footer for birdie on the par-3 No. 3 hole to help extend a three-hole stretch in which Mesa Verde picked up five pars. Rhorer also picked up what would have been a three-foot attempt at birdie on No. 2. He produced seven pars that scored and picked up a two-footer that would likely have been an eighth par, had two teammates not already sank par putts on No. 5.

Women’s champion Madelaine Campbell birdied No. 2 and also had three scoring pars, while Tom Sargent, Mesa Verde’s head professional who is the only player to compete in all 16 Jones Cup events, had two pars that scored and one birdie (sinking a 10-footer on the par-4 No. 4).

“I don’t think we played well and we were fortunate to be where we were,” Sargent said. “We were all scrapping and we had some big putts. This is a hard course to score on, especially if you don’t know it. It’s tough to get your yardage right and putting is tough.”

Rhorer said Mesa Verde’s round was a tale of two sides.

“I thought we really did well to come back on our back side,” Rhorer said. “We all had good moments and we all had some not-so-good moments. And that’s golf. But we all had birdies, so I thought we had a true team effort and everybody contributed.”