There are thousands of stories in the city and on the golf course. Some of them are true, some are not and some should not be mentioned. Stories of seasoned veterans, stories of amazing comebacks and stories of mishaps too ridiculous to be believe. The wind blew hard and the air was cool for the 2021 playing of the The Jones Cup. Some tough-minded players dismissed the wind and dealt with the cold better than others. Only the stories remain to be told.

Round One - Heathland

A cold front was moving in from the northwest bringing the promise of cold air and high winds for the week. But not on this day, this day was sunny, clear and warm for the first round of The Jones Cup. The Heathland course usually plays the easiest of the trident of courses at The Legends. Heathland had no answers for the onslaught of good play from the field this year.

A great round was posted by Paul Canovai in his post-rookie year. Paul scored 72 points on 72 shots to take the early lead. Brent Koeval and Kevin Rumsey were one point back at +19 points. Blake Lewis, Tom Spellman and Robbie Cheek rounded out the first page leader board. Cheek posted his best round of his Jones Cup career and more is expected from this fine, young and … loud player. The committee noted that Paul’s team partner filed a formal complaint before play started. The claim was that Paul could not make 13 pars – "He’s not that kind of player". But the challenge put Paul on a path to his best round ever in Jones Cup competition – and yes he did score 13 pars on the day. Heathland surrendered - as much of the field broke 90 while posting 43 points on average.

A photo was taken of the entire field before the first day of play to memorialize the event. Local custodian and all around good guy “Marlo” joined in the photo before finishing sweeping the steps. See photo below.

Almost All 2021 Players

Round Two - Parkland

The players took the field for the second round with temps in the low 40s. A 1½ to 2 club wind had players guessing most of the day. Especially on holes 1, 9, 10 and 18 where exposure to the wind was greatest. Most of the Parkland course is lined with trees and this was great relief to the players as they made their way into the heart of the competition.

Moving up the board was Justin May with + 7 points in shaky conditions. Justin played with son Jackson for the first time in competition. A few patrons were known to spill their beverage watching Jackson hit towering irons shots off the tee and into the greens. Brent Koeval was steady with a fine score of 88 and +2 points. Tom Spellman also played a fine round to keep his scoring in the plus column. The 2012 Champion Jim Johnson had the low round of the day with a score of 80. Efren Delaluz also scored very well with a round of 81. The leaders looked to separate from the field as the average score ballooned to 94 and points fell back to 36 on average. M e a n while… moving from a hospital bed last year and into the lead this year was Blake Lewis. Blake was involved in a terrible accident last year and could not compete in 2020. This year, Blake was off the DL, striking great shots and pouring putts in the hole like milk in a jar.

Final Round - Moorland

The Moorland course is noted for elevated greens, huge sand pitches and fast-swirling greens. A few dead bodies have been reported over the years as players have lost their footing on the slick greens and plunged over the edge. Like Mt. Everest, these souls have been left behind to remind future players of the dangers that lie in wait on the Moorland course.

It was tight, really tight as Blake Lewis held just a 4 point advantage over the venerable Brent Koeval and strongman Justin May to start the final round. Both Koeval and May posted great scores on Heathland and Parkland and could do it again or better. Many top players like Delaluz, Hunter, Johnson&Johnson, Canovai, and Spellman were lurking to pounce from behind. Any slip by leader Lewis would change the balance for the The Jones Cup championship and the team competition. But it was not to be as Blake poured in two more birdies to score +17 in the final round and take the Cup. Congratulations to Blake Lewis – winner of The Jones Cup for 2021.

Congratluations to Blake Lewis as the 2021 winner of The Jones Cup!

Tales From the Bunkers

Shirt Off His Back

The "Shirt Off His Back" award is given annually to the player who most exemplifies the best in golf. Passionate, forgiving, team-spirit, the best "Pard". This year's award was presented to:

Frank Hughes

Shank'O'potmas

The "Shankopotmas" award is given to the best example of the most ridiculous of golf shots. There were three contenders this year - a multi-whiffed iron shot, a pop-up drive off the tee, and multiple penalties on the same tee box.

The multiple whiffed iron shots were pulled off by Tommy Woods who managed to "whiff" the ball three times in row - taking a strong divot each time. Jake Flounder made the "whiff" shot famous with his 1995 hit song "Gotta Love the One You Whiff".

Pop-ups happen, but straight up? Jonathan Poore managed to fly his tee shot straight up and could have caught the foul ball. However, a case of SLOT (Serious Lack of Talent) took over and ball fell to the ground.

The multiple penalties on the same tee box involved the ball flying straight up and hitting the player on the way down causing a 1 shot penalty. It didn't happen once, no... it happened TWO times on the same tee box. That player was none other than... Robbie Cheek. Robbie screamed loudly with each penalty causing a Bigfoot citing to be reported in the local area. Robbie was named as the winner of the "Shankopotmas" award for 2021.

Hero Shots

A "Hero" shot is described is great shot from difficult positions.

A waterway splits the fairway on the Par 5 15th on Moorland. It requires a lengthy drive and a solid second shot to the clear the water hazard. Mark Davis blistered a drive and had a chance to carry the waterway on his second. The second shot was high off the soft turf and short, but the ball hit the middle of the bridge and carried safely to the center of the fairway. Mark's third was solid resulting in a "hero" par. The Legends management is considered installing a plaque to commerate the amazing second shot.

The No. 2 handicap hole on the Heathland course is the 16th. The 16th is a long, uphill and difficult Par 4 with water splitting the fairway. Brent Nifong had hit 3 shots to reach the green, but faced a long down hill putt for par. Downhill doesn't adequately describe the putt. This was like putting off the roof of your car to a cup on the hood. Brent is known as praying soul and maybe the divine play a part as he stroked it. The ball wobbled and picked up speed down the hill until it struck the flagstick and fell into the hole. Congratulations to Brent Nifong for winning the "Hero" shot of the week.

The Jones Cup

2021 Final Leaderboard

Player	Quota	Points	Total	Points	Total	Points	Total
		Heathland		Parkland		Moorland
Blake Lewis	30	48	18	37	25	47	42	1st
Brent Koeval	43	62	19	45	21	56	34	2nd
Justin May	35	48	13	42	20	49	34
Mark Hunter	44	47	3	49	8	58	22	4th
Tom Spellman	38	53	15	40	17	35	14	5th
Efren Delaluz	54	57	3	55	4	62	12	6th
Jimmy Johnson	48	51	3	49	4	56	12
Chris Kelley	46	59	13	48	15	41	10	8th
Paul Canovai	52	72	20	47	15	45	8	9th
Robbie Cheek	23	38	15	17	9	20	6	10th
Bruce Bryan	43	43	0	45	2	45	4	11th
Mark Davis	35	39	4	37	6	31	2	12th
Gordon Lovett	39	43	4	35	0	38	-1	13th
Dan Rath	47	53	6	45	4	40	-3	14th
Frank Hughes	46	50	4	43	1	42	-3
Jackson May	40	45	5	38	3	33	-4	16th
Mike Meadows	27	30	3	27	3	20	-4
David Forrest	62	64	2	51	-9	67	-4
Brent Nifong	36	18	-18	47	-7	38	-5	19th
Gene Riddle	39	44	5	32	-2	35	-6	20th
Jim Johnson	58	49	-9	59	-8	60	-6
Bruce Bronson	38	52	14	28	4	26	-8	22nd
Kevin Rumsey	42	61	19	29	6	26	-10	23rd
Michael Lewis	26	35	9	19	2	13	-11	24th
KC Rankin	45	38	-7	41	-11	45	-11
Rich Crim	45	49	4	37	-4	37	-12	26th
Jonathan Poore	27	23	-4	27	-4	19	-12
John Ketner	23	24	1	14	-8	17	-14	28th
Tommy Woods	19	9	-10	13	-16	21	-14
Scot Kelley	28	25	-3	15	-16	23	-21	30th
Barry Kelley	45	32	-13	37	-21	40	-26	31st
Jeff Carowan	34	26	-8	23	-19	25	-28	32nd

Team Play

2021 Team Finals

Player	Quota	Team Q	Team Total	Team Total	Team Total
			Heathland	Parkland	Moorland
Dan Rath	47	101	9	17	9	5th
Efren Delaluz	54
Jim Johnson	58	106	-6	-10	6
Jimmy Johnson	48
Gene Riddle	39	82	5	5	-2
Bruce Bryan	43
Rich Crim	45	88	23	40	22	4th
Brent Koeval	43
Jonathan Poore	27	50	11	16	-6
Robbie Cheek	23
Justin May	35	75	18	41	30	3rd
Jackson May	40
Scot Kelley	28	73	-16	-53	-47
Barry Kelley	45
Bruce Bronson	38	83	7	0	-19
KC Rankin	45
Jeff Carowan	34	80	5	1	-18
Chris Kelley	46
Gordon Lovett	39	74	8	14	1
Mark Davis	35
David Forrest	62	108	6	-2	-7
Frank Hughes	46
Kevin Rumsey	42	80	34	57	4
Tom Spellman	38
Brent Nifong	36	59	-17	-32	-19
John Ketner	23
Mark Hunter	44	96	23	46	30	2nd
Paul Canovai	52
Michael Lewis	30	60	27	54	31	1st
Blake Lewis	30
Tommy Woods	19	46	-7	-20	-18
Mike Meadows	27

Most Pars

Tournament founder, Jim Jones, always said he was never upset with PAR. Old man PAR is your friend and very hard to beat. This year's award for MOST PARS goes to our 2015 Champion Mark Hunter with a total of 27.

Player	Heathland	Parkland	Moorland	Total
Mark Hunter	9	7	11	27	1st
Paul Canovai	13	7	6	26	2nd
Efren Delaluz	9	7	9	25	3rd
David Forrest	11	5	8	24	4th
Brent Koeval	11	6	6	23	5th
Jim Johnson	7	7	8	22	6th
Chris Kelley	10	6	5	21	7th
Jimmy Johnson	6	8	6	20	8th
Dan Rath	10	5	3	18	9th
Justin May	7	5	6	18
Bruce Bryan	6	5	7	18
Rich Crim	8	4	5	17	12th
Frank Hughes	6	5	6	17
Mark Davis	5	6	5	16	14th
Tom Spellman	9	3	3	15	15th
Kevin Rumsey	9	2	3	14	16th
KC Rankin	4	4	5	13	17th
Gordon Lovett	6	2	5	13
Jackson May	4	3	4	11	19th
Barry Kelley	4	3	4	11
Bruce Bronson	6	2	2	10	21st
Gene Riddle	4	4	2	10
Jonathan Poore	3	4	1	8	23rd
Blake Lewis	1	3	3	7	24th
Brent Nifong	1	0	6	7
Michael Lewis	4	2	0	6	26th
Robbie Cheek	5	0	0	5	27th
John Ketner	4	0	0	4	28th
Mike Meadows	2	1	1	4
Jeff Carowan	2	2	0	4
Scot Kelley	1	0	0	1	31st
Tommy Woods	0	0	0	0	32nd

Most Points

Player	Quota	Points	Total	Points	Total	Points	Total
		Heathland		Parkland		Moorland
David Forrest	62	64	64	51	115	67	182	1st
Efren Delaluz	54	57	57	55	112	62	174	2nd
Jim Johnson	58	49	49	59	108	60	168	3rd
Paul Canovai	52	72	72	47	119	45	164	4th
Brent Koeval	43	62	62	45	107	56	163	5th
Jimmy Johnson	48	51	51	49	100	56	156	6th
Mark Hunter	44	47	47	49	96	58	154	7th
Chris Kelley	46	59	59	48	107	41	148	8th
Justin May	35	48	48	42	90	49	139	9th
Dan Rath	47	53	53	45	98	40	138	10th
Frank Hughes	46	50	50	43	93	42	135	11th
Bruce Bryan	43	43	43	45	88	45	133	12th
Blake Lewis	30	48	48	37	85	47	132	13th
Tom Spellman	38	53	53	40	93	35	128	14th
KC Rankin	45	38	38	41	79	45	124	15th
Rich Crim	45	49	49	37	86	37	123	16th
Jackson May	40	45	45	38	83	33	116	17th
Gordon Lovett	39	43	43	35	78	38	116
Kevin Rumsey	42	61	61	29	90	26	116
Gene Riddle	39	44	44	32	76	35	111	20th
Barry Kelley	45	32	32	37	69	40	109	21st
Mark Davis	35	39	39	37	76	31	107	22nd
Bruce Bronson	38	52	52	28	80	26	106	23rd
Brent Nifong	36	18	18	47	65	38	103	24th
Mike Meadows	27	30	30	27	57	20	77	25th
Robbie Cheek	23	38	38	17	55	20	75	26th
Jeff Carowan	34	26	26	23	49	25	74	27th
Jonathan Poore	27	23	23	27	50	19	69	28th
Michael Lewis	26	35	35	19	54	13	67	29th
Scot Kelley	28	25	25	15	40	23	63	30th
John Ketner	23	24	24	14	38	17	55	31st
Tommy Woods	19	9	9	13	22	21	43	32nd

Medal Play

Player	Score	Total	Score	Total	Score	Total
	Heathland		Parkland		Moorland
David Forrest	78	78	83	161	76	237	1st
Efren Delaluz	80	80	81	161	80	241	2nd
Jim Johnson	83	83	80	163	80	243	3rd
Paul Canovai	72	72	86	158	87	245	4th
Brent Koeval	77	77	88	165	82	247	5th
Jimmy Johnson	83	83	86	169	85	254	6th
Mark Hunter	86	86	87	173	82	255	7th
Chris Kelley	79	79	87	166	90	256	8th
Dan Rath	84	84	89	173	91	264	9th
Justin May	87	87	92	179	86	265	10th
Frank Hughes	84	84	91	175	90	265
Bruce Bryan	88	88	89	177	89	266	11th
KC Rankin	91	91	90	181	87	268	12th
Tom Spellman	83	83	92	175	95	270	13th
Gordon Lovett	88	88	93	181	90	271	14th
Rich Crim	84	84	95	179	93	272	15th
Blake Lewis	91	91	95	186	88	274	16th
Jackson May	88	88	92	180	97	277	17th
Kevin Rumsey	79	79	99	178	101	279	18th
Barry Kelley	97	97	97	194	90	284	19th
Gene Riddle	91	91	98	189	96	285	20th
Mark Davis	92	92	95	187	100	287	21st
Bruce Bronson	86	86	100	186	102	288	22nd
Brent Nifong	110	110	88	198	94	292	23rd
Mike Meadows	98	98	101	199	107	306	24th
Jeff Carowan	101	101	105	206	101	307	25th
Robbie Cheek	93	93	108	201	108	309	26th
Scot Kelley	101	101	108	209	103	312	27th
Michael Lewis	94	94	109	203	113	316	28th
Jonathan Poore	106	106	103	209	108	317	29th
John Ketner	105	105	115	220	110	330	30th
Tommy Woods	116	116	114	230	105	335	31st