Age a factor only in positive way

Richard Dunn

Even though his amateur competitors in Jones Cup III are all in

their early- and mid-30s, senior golf sensation Pete Daley of Mesa

Verde Country Club isn’t concerned appearances or length off the tee.

“They’re young bucks,” said Daley, the only amateur to play in all

three Jones Cups. “But I think what happens when you finally get up

to a certain age is that it becomes mental, and the young guys don’t

have the experience. If we’re playing courses 6,600 or 6,700 yards,

then I won’t be as long. But mentally I think I probably, hopefully,

will play a little smarter than they do, and that’s where I gain an

advantage.”

An international competitor in the seniors division, Daley, 62,

has captured four straight men’s club championships at Mesa Verde and

recently returned from the Canadian Senior Amateur Championship at

the antiquated Elmhurst Golf & Country Club in Winnipeg, Manitoba,

where he finished tied for 12th in stroke play with a 76-77-74--227

and advanced to the second round in match play.

After Jones Cup III, which will be played Friday at Big Canyon

Country Club at 1 p.m., Daley will once again travel across the pond

and play in the British Senior Amateur Championship Aug. 7-9 at

Woodall Spa in England.

Daley, who has hovered around a zero handicap the last couple of

years, including last September when he was a plus-1, still has never

taken a golf lesson in his life and probably never will.

“I think when you get to a certain age, you stay with the swing

you’ve had most of your life,” said Daley, who will tee it up in

Jones Cup III with Mesa Verde head professional Tom Sargent. “I’m too

old. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Oh, sure, you run into

problems, but you just ask your buddies to help you out. I’ve been

fortunate to find out what’s wrong with my swing when I’ve needed

to.”

Daley and Sargent won the inaugural Jones Cup in 2000 at Newport

Beach Country Club, when Sargent, with his ball deeply embedded in

the rough at 18, hit a memorable flop shot to set up a birdie putt

and give Mesa Verde the first perpetual Jones Cup trophy.

Daley, meanwhile, is golf’s ultimate late bloomer. He didn’t start

playing until he was 41. Daley won his first big championship in

1997, when he captured Mesa Verde’s senior club title, and has won

the club’s regular three-round stroke-play championship every year

since 1998. In 2001, Daley beat Steve Rhorer in a two-hole playoff.

Mesa Verde holds its men’s club championship each year after the

Jones Cup.

To put Daley’s streak of four straight titles in perspective,

consider that no Mesa Verde member has won more than two in a row

since the club opened in 1959.

Clyde Sarver is Mesa Verde’s all-time men’s club champion with

five titles (1962-63, ‘71, ’73 and ‘77), a record Daley hopes to tie

later this summer.

Daley, a Newport Beach resident who owns a marketing company, grew

up a baseball player, competed in fast-pitch softball for several

years, then got married and started playing tennis. Then, after his

kids grew up and Daley concluded a nine-year youth soccer coaching

stint, he decided to try playing golf.

The Jones Cup, created by this sports section as part of the

Fletcher Jones Motorcars/Daily Pilot Club Championship Series, is a

pro-am contested in a better-ball of partners format.

Each club -- Mesa Verde, Big Canyon, Newport Beach and Santa Ana

Country Club -- is responsible for selecting their own pro-am team.

The only standards are that the pro is a full-time staff member and

the amateur a dues-paying member at the club. The clubs also rotate

as host site in the Jones Cup.

Jones Cup III will also feature Gregg Hemphill and Santa Ana

Director of Golf Mike Reehl; Jeff Wright and Newport Beach head pro

Paul Hahn; and Danny Lane and Big Canyon Director of Golf Bob

Lovejoy.