Ferg-alicious: Birdie helps Mesa Verde Country Club win Jones Cup
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Mesa Verde Country Club teed off last on Wednesday at the 27th annual Jones Cup golf tournament, and the host club seemed to be chasing Big Canyon, literally and figuratively, for much of the day.
But defending champion Big Canyon carded a pair of bogeys at No. 14 in the two-best ball format, opening the door for Mesa Verde.
About an hour later, Mike Fergin slammed it shut.
Fergin’s birdie putt of about 20 feet on No. 18, the first playoff hole, helped Mesa Verde win the tournament with a team score of 13-under par.
Big Canyon finished a stroke back at 12-under. It was a two-team race for much of the day, with Newport Beach and Shady Canyon tied for third at -5 and Santa Ana at -4.
After Fergin’s birdie, men’s club champion Ryan Knapp made par on the playoff hole to seal the win for Mesa Verde, which won the Jones Cup for the ninth time and the first time since 2021.
Team captain Craig Plumley, ladies club champion Ellen Stewart and senior men’s champion Don Odom also contributed for Mesa Verde. Fergin, who had seven birdies including the playoff, earned the Gordon Bowley Celebration Award for tournament MVP.
The Mesa Verde professional said he hit his 4 iron a bit short on No. 18 in regulation. But during the playoff, he saw his tee shot go toward the back of the green, which set up a fast-moving downhill birdie putt.
“It was a good thing Don Odom had his mark there,” said Fergin, who has personally contributed to six of the club’s Jones Cup wins. “I saw the line, and I go, ‘Just trust your speed, trust your routine.’ As soon as I hit it, I loved the speed, and it looked like it was breaking right, and it was confirmed. But we still needed another putt.”
Knapp is the grandson of the late Bowley, a longtime Jones Cup volunteer. He nearly had the winning birdie putt in regulation on No. 18 — his left arm was raised with club in hand, ready to celebrate — but it lipped out.
“I’ve made that putt before,” Knapp said. “There’s a few check marks, and I passed both of them. I was like, the next check mark is the hole. I don’t know how it missed.”
The par putt to win it came after Fergin’s playoff birdie, which Knapp called “silly” how good it was.
“I was ready to make it,” said Knapp, who had four birdies on his round, of the par putt. “It was fast, very fast.”
Stewart also had three long birdies for Mesa Verde — on Nos. 6, 12 and 14, which Fergin credited with helping keep Mesa Verde in the hunt. Plumley contributed a birdie on No. 12.
“I started out slow,” said Stewart, playing in her second Jones Cup. “I’m like, ‘Please, I have to show up to help you guys.’ I’ve been working for two years so I could play OK with you guys.”
Big Canyon was going for its tournament-best 13th Jones Cup win. Senior men’s champion Will Tipton led the club Wednesday with six birdies, including three in a row on Nos. 10 through 12. Even on the par-five No. 13, where his second shot went dangerously close to the water, he had a birdie putt that just missed.
But then came the par-four No. 14, which Tipton called “dreadful” for Big Canyon. Still, the players enjoyed competing, especially as their home course is currently under renovations that are scheduled to be completed in October, Tipton said.
“Not having a course, we can’t play as much, and we thought that we’d be at a little bit of a disadvantage,” Tipton said. “We all played OK today, so that was kind of fun … It was nice to get the competitive spirit and all be together again.”
Men’s champion Walter Frome IV contributed four birdies for Big Canyon, while professional Erika Ilagan had three and captain Robert Pang tallied one.
The other participating clubs found birdies harder to come by, though men’s club champion Tyler Schmidt of Newport Beach Country Club had the lone eagle of the day at the par-five first hole.
