Singing Hills Golf Resort-Oak Glen hosted the Mary Cave Cup August 1-2 in El Cajon, California. Representing Arizona were Kate Hauptman of Phoenix, Eva Heinz of Goodyear, Mia Cesarek of Tucson, and Kaitlyn Helm of Litchfield Park. The tournament is a 36 hole, four-ball event with trophies being awarded to the top 2 teams and the low individual finisher. Team Arizona sent two teams of two to the San Diego area. Leading the charge for Arizona was Team 2 featuring Kate Hauptman and Kaitlyn Helm. The duo finished T-4 at six-under par for the event. They caught fire in the final round with an impressive bogey-free score of five-under-par 67. Southern California and Hawaii tied for top honors at the annual event at eight-under par 136 (69-67 and 66-70). Team Arizona 1, featuring Eva Heinz and Mia Cesarek, finished T-11 at three-under par for the tournament (71-70).
As for individual stroke play, Eva Heinz of Goodyear led the way for both Team Arizona squads at five-over par (72-77-149). Heinz finished T-9 for the event to earn top individual status out of all JGAA players in the field. Behind her was Mia Cesarek of Tucson at 12-over par (81-75-156) to finish solo 22nd. Kate Hauptman of Phoenix ended up T-23rd at 13-over par (74-83-157), while Kaitlyn Helm of Litchfield Park rounded up the group with a T-29th performance at 16-over par (86-74-160).
Mary Cave began volunteering in the early 1950s. She donated countless hours running tournaments for the youth of San Diego. She was the first women’s golf coach at San Diego State. She was inducted into the coaches’ hall of Fame at St. Augustine, Florida.
Mary also played an active role at the Junior World Golf Championships for over 30 years. In 1985 Mary was selected as captain of the San Diego‘s Girls Junior America’s Cup Team and was elected to the first Executive Board of this group. Mary was inducted into the San Diego Junior Golf Associations’ Hall of Fame in 2001.
The Mary Cave Cup was established in 2003. Carol Orona from Northern California spent two years attempting to establish a girls’ event in Mary’s honor in the San Diego area. She wrote to every golf course in the county and made many trips to San Diego to talk personally with the golf pros and general managers. It wasn’t until Megan Mahoney of the SDJGA, who was a member of one of Mary’s early America’s Cup teams, supported the idea that the event could be established. Mary was able to attend the first few years of the event before poor health got in the way. Mary passed away in the winter of 2009, but her memory and her event lives on.
“We are so grateful to carry on the unprecedented legacy Mary left behind,” said JGAA Executive Director Scott McNevin.
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