Shady Canyon makes it close
Last year, Shady Canyon Golf Club was able to pull off a stunning win, defeating the nine-time Jones Cup champs, Big Canyon, in stylish fashion. With three returning players (Brian Gunson, Kirk Manley and Robyn Puckett) and two additions (Kevin Baker and Bill Moore), Shady Canyon felt confident that they could will themselves to another victory in Tuesday’s 16th annual Jones Cup at Big Canyon. Unfortunately, for Shady Canyon, a repeat was not in the cards.
“There weren’t too many great moments,” Shady Canyon captain Brian Gunson said. “There was the 14th hole [No. 5] where we were all putting for birdies. We had a few par putts early on to keep us in it. But the pins were tight. If you take us back to last year, we created some momentum. The course wasn’t really set up for lots of birdies. But you know it’s fun. It’s great to compete and just enjoy it.”
Shady Canyon finished in a three-way tie for third with Mesa Verde and Santa Ana. All three teams posted a -7 (137). Big Canyon finished second at -8 and Newport Beach claimed the Jones Cup at -10.
The five teams remained close to one another throughout the tournament.
“Nobody really ran away with it,” Gunson said.
Newport Beach pulled away with two birdies on the second to last hole, No. 8 at Big Canyon.
Tailing the leaders, Gunson and his crew knew that they needed to rectify the situation with a few birdies of their own. With only two holes left in a five-person two-best-ball format, Shady Canyon was behind with a score of -7 to Newport Beach’s -10. Shady needed to make at least a single birdie on this particular hole or it had no chance.
Gunson was nearly able to bring his team back into it with a 50-yard chip shot that fell just a foot short of the hole. If he had made that, it would have been quasi miraculous. Falling just a foot short, the stroke still was of note. Gunson explained what a good golfer has to be like when facing those kinds of scenarios.
“You know it’s funny. When you are in a situation like that you slowly think nothing about making it,” he said. “That’s what separates the really good players and the average ones is that when you have no other option but to make it, you forget about everything negative and everything positive and you make that stroke.”
With Gunson’s miss, the pressure landed on the shoulders of Robyn Puckett, who had to sink a 20-foot putt to keep her crew in the match.
“Well, I hit a really nice drive, finally,” Puckett said of No. 8. “Then got a really good second shot, finally. Then the boys gave me a nice read and I knew I just had to roll it down there because Brian [Gunson] was in for a four and Kevin [Baker] for a five and I wanted to get it near the hole and I got it in the hole. I was happy with those shots.”
Shady Canyon now seemed revitalized. Unfortunately, it was unable to stroke any birdies on the final hole. However, the crew seemed in good spirits.
“[The Jones Cup] will be at Mesa Verde next year and you know I competed 30 odd years ago back in Europe,” Gunson said. “I compete so little here, that it’s nice when you are a professional sports person and you get the chance to compete under the gun. It gets those juices flowing. It focuses me on the last two months, trying to get ready for this event. And it’s building some momentum within Shady Canyon about winning the club championship to be able to play in this event. It creates a good atmosphere. When you talk about all the five clubs, we are all very similar and we are all here for the very same reason, to have a good time. You can’t say anything negative. It brings all the clubs together a little bit more and we all get to play each other’s golf courses every five years. It’s awesome.”
