SENIOR PORTER CUP NEWS - 2011
Carter Defends Senior Porter Cup Championship
By Jonah Bronstein, Niagara Gazette
September 9, 2011
Ron Carter, the defending champion in this year’s Senior Porter Cup field, had a rough round Thursday at Niagara Falls Country Club, finishing six shots over par and five shots off the lead. Carter slumped off the course, took a nap, relaxed with his wife for the rest of the evening, then came back to the course Friday morning and told himself, “you’ve got to catch somebody.”
Carter caught the leaders with a 1-under 34 on the front nine, then played the back nine even to finish with a 54-hole score of 216, edging Larry Daniels by a single stroke to repeat as champion and claim his eighth major victory on the amateur golf circuit.
“Winning’s always more fun than finishing second,” said Carter, 60, of Monticello, Ind. “It feels great. That’s why we do this. And Niagara Falls, the staff here is absolutely great. They do a great job here. The course is always in great shape and this is kind of a special place to win at.”
In it’s fourth year as a standalone event, the Senior Porter Cup drew 91 players, 34 in the super senior (over 65) division.
Skip Snow, 68, of Dayton, Ohio, won the super senior championship, shooting even par Friday for a three-day score of 213. He highlighted his week by holing out a 9-iron shot for eagle on the 11th hole. Snow said winning this event ranks “at the very top” of his amateur golf accomplishments.
“I’ve been coming out here about 10 years. I came when they used to have the seniors as part of the regular (tournament). It was such a treat do that and come watch the young guys play,” Snow said. “It’s such a wonderful venue and such a great place.”
Daniels, 58, was playing in his first Senior Porter Cup and his first competitive event since injuring his knee in June. He had a chance to force a playoff with Carter but left an 18-foot par putt on the left edge of the 18th hole. He blamed an errant tee shot for setting up a difficult sand save.
“I’ve been driving it short, today I knocked it over,” he said. “I hit my 4-hybrid. I actually flushed it by mistake. I should’ve hit it crummy.”
But the Seattle native still enjoyed his first Porter Cup experience.
“It’s a wonderful golf course,” he said. “It’s a great track. You read about the Porter Cup all the time. And I always think, I’d love to get back here some day and play and compete would be a lot of fun. You see all this stuff, the Tiger Woods plaque and all these kids names who won it who are now on the tour. And a lot of great seniors over the years have their name on the trophy. It would be nice to have your name on the trophy with those guys.”
Click here to view 2011 final results.
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