Porter Cup meets the press

The green jackets, the high-quality golf, the tradition unlike any other.

That's right, it's Porter Cup time.

If you are a Western New York sports fan who doesn't know about the Porter Cup, you should.

This year's 51st Porter Cup is July 21-25 at Niagara Falls Country Club. The tournament is one of the top amateur golf events in the nation and has been for a long time. Mickelson's won it. Tiger had a hole-in-one during it. Jack Nicklaus was there to watch son Gary win it. You can continue your education at portercup.com, which is full of outstanding information.

On Tuesday, NFCC held its annual media day luncheon and outing. Tournament Director Steve Denn (pictured at right) outline what he called "probably in my nine years, the best field we've ever had."

There are plenty of great storylines which will be detailed in The News before and during the event.

There are golfers from China, Italy, Australia, Canada, Korea and other countries.

The University of Georgia has not only last year's champion (Adam Mitchell), and the 2007 champion (Brian Harman) back at the Porter Cup -- the Bulldogs have their entire starting five in the tournament. 

There are a ton of local golfers competing, including qualifying tournament winner John Edwards, a 27-year-old who -- get this! -- spent two summers as a groundskeeper at NFCC. West Seneca's Jeff Wolniewicz, the 2008 state amateur champion, is another, while current Floridian Tim Hume will be back in the area code in which he won six Buffalo District Golf Association titles.

A guy I saw play at Bethpage Black in the U.S. Open -- Drew Weaver of North Carolina -- will be there. So will Alabama rising sophomore Bud Cauley, who won the prestigious Player's Am in South Carolina on Sunday.

A key factor that makes the 2009 field a very good one is that this is a Walker Cup year. Every two years, the Walker Cup pits the best amateur golfers from the United States against those from England and Ireland. This year's event will be held in September, which means the U.S. team has not been determined yet. Walker Cup captain Buddy Marucci is also competing in the Porter Cup, and he'll have the final say on who makes the team.

The tournament itself is a bargain. Admission is free and you only pay a few dollars to park -- even that cost is a donation to the Boy Scouts of America. It's an unbelievable deal to have a front-row seat to watch high-quality golf and great competition by some future stars of the sport. The course itself offers many picturesque views -- notably out to Lake Ontario.

On Saturday, the only thing enjoyable to look at for The News' golfers was being able to see Toronto from not only the clubhouse but from a couple of vantage points on the back nine. The golf sure wasn't pretty.

Famed golfer/columnist Jerry Sullivan, Assistant Sports Editor Dennis Danheiser (pictured here teeing off on the par-3 No. 18), copy editor Geoff Nason and myself had a great afternoon ... even if the ball wasn't going where we wanted it to.

At least one shot went in. Take us home, Sully.

---Keith McShea