By Mark Gaughan | Buffalo News Lois Kaye Go shot 65 to win the Women’s Porter Cup. (James P. McCoy/Buffalo News) Lois Kaye Go of the Philippines birdied five of the last eight holes and shot a final-round 65 Friday to win the Women’s Porter Cup golf tournament. Go, who just finished her freshman year at Boston College, finished at 8-under 208 at Niagara Falls Country Club to win by five strokes over Penn State’s Laruen Waller. “I was very surprised with the way I played today,” Go said. “I really wasn’t expecting it. It was actually my best round of my life.” The 18-year-old Go looks like she will be a force in collegiate golf the next three years. The ninth-ranked junior in the 2016 recruiting class, she was the No. 1 player for Boston College with a 71.0 scoring average and was one of only two freshmen to make all-Atlantic Coast Conference. “I’m very honored to win this tournament,” Go said. “I have aspirations of turning professional so I hope this tournament will give me enough confidence throughout my last three years of college and hopefully in the professional tour after that.” Go and Waller were tied at 3-under after 10 holes. Go made a two-putt birdie on the par-5 11th. Then she pulled away with four straight birdies, a 7-footer on the par-4 14th, a 5-footer on the par-4 15th, a 7-footer on the par-3 16th and a 7-footer on the par-5 17th. “The key was I was making my putts,” Go said. “I was sticking it close enough and my putts were just dropping.” Go’s older brother, Lloyd Jefferson Go, just finished a great career at Seton Hall, earning Big East player of the year honors two years in a row. Leaders: Waller was the No. 1 player as a sophomore for Penn State this year. Finishing third at 1-under was Naomi Ko of Canada and North Carolina State. Michigan State’s Katie Sharp was fourth at 1-over. Mika Liu, the Stanford-bound junior star from Beverly Hills, Calif., finished in a four-way tie for fifth at 2-over. The course played 5,925 yards for the final round. Top WNYer: Lancaster’s Chelsea Dantonio tied for 17th at 4-over after a final-round, even-par 72. She was the top Western New York finisher. Dantonio, who tied for 35th last year, just finished her sophomore season at Winthrop University in South Carolina. “That’s my goal, to score lower and place lower each year,” Dantonio said. Dantonio tied for seventh at the Big South Conference championship with a 1-over 217 score, the lowest in Winthrop history at the event. She had five top-10 finishes. She has been tutored by former PGA Tour pro Allen Miller her whole career and said a few tweaks the past few weeks have put her in a better position at the top of her swing. “Fall season I didn’t do so great but working with my coach over the winter was a big turning point in my game,” Dantonio said of Miller. “I performed really well in the spring and I came back and worked even harder with him since.” Dantonio’s dad, Chris, was her caddy, and she was playing with new, PXG irons for the first time in a tournament. Top 30: Lewiston’s Victoria Parker was the No. 2 WNY finisher. She tied for 26th after a final-round 73. Parker, a Sacred Heart product who plays out of Orchard Park CC, just finished her freshman year at Coastal Carolina, where she had a 77.5 stroke average. She’s tutored by Gary Battistoni and says her game got better this year. “I loved it,” she said of the Myrtle Beach, S.C., school. “We had to do a lot of workouts and a lot of practice that I wasn’t used to. My game has gotten a lot better. My up and downs. I know I can scramble better, which I did on the front a lot today to save par.”

The final round of the Women’s Porter Cup tees off Friday morning at Niagara Falls Country Club. By Matt Schneidman | Buffalo News Marika and Mika Liu haven’t lived together for over 10 years, the sisters being six years apart and both attending high school at IMG Academy in Florida, a country away from their Beverly Hills, Calif., home. Marika, a 2015 graduate of Yale, hasn’t taken a collegiate golf swing in over two years. Mika has yet to take one, her freshman year at Stanford awaiting this fall. Yet it’s the older sister caddying for the younger at the 2017 Women’s Porter Cup, as two knee sprains forced Marika to withdraw from the event shortly into Wednesday’s first round. Now Mika shoulders the family’s lone hopes for a championship heading into Friday’s final round at Niagara Falls Country Club. She sits a mere three strokes off the lead in a tie for fourth after a second-round, 2-under 70 brought her back to even par overall. Canada’s Naomi Ko and Pennsylvania’s Lauren Waller share the lead at 3-under par, while Lois Kaye Go of the Philippines stands 1 under in third place. Right behind them, though, is the soon-to-be college freshman, reunited with her sister for one final charge at the Porter Cup title. “She’s literally my cheerful bubble,” Mika said of her sister, “and she gives really good advice, too.” Mika is the youngest of four children, the three elders all former or current Ivy League golfers. Marika received Ivy League Player of the Year honors as a senior with the Bulldogs. The oldest Liu, their brother Seiji, played at Harvard and graduated in 2014. Seiya, the second-youngest sibling, just finished his sophomore year on the Harvard men’s golf team. All three started with tennis, not golf, only Mika choosing a club over a racket to begin her athletic career. She saw where golf led her older siblings and decided she too would try to make the game more than a hobby. The Liu household was mostly devoid of the boisterous competition one would expect in a family where four children all played the same sport at a relatively similar skill level, and Mika absorbed advice from her brothers and sister to become one of the top women’s amateur golfers in the world (she’s currently 35th in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking). “She has a leg up because she’s gone through golf more head-on, versus us, we started with tennis,” Marika said. “She has really all the training and all the know-how that we’ve passed down to her. … It’s really great just being on her bag, seeing how she plays now that she’s grown up.” Mika has traveled the world to play in the Junior Solheim Cup and the Curtis Cup, two of golf’s top amateur tournaments. Her older siblings never bounced around the globe because of their talents on the course. It’s the three older siblings, Marika said, who now have a lot to learn from the youngest, even before she heads off to play for a Stanford team that ranked No. 2 in the nation last season. “Mika has has significant experience both here in the U.S. and also abroad … she is a seasoned junior golfer,” Stanford head coach Anne Walker said in an email. “I think this will help make her transition to college golf easier and allow her to compete every week in our lineup.” Asked who the best golfer of the four siblings is right now, Mika paused before explaining her oldest brother no longer plays as much, as if to justify why she at least tops him. Then she flashed a wide grin. “I would say right now maybe I’m the best,” she beamed. Marika declined to comment on the matter, through laughter, as her younger sister walked by to listen to her answer. As the two others in Mika’s group headed their respective ways after filing their official scorecards and mingling with family in attendance, Mika followed the rock pathway to the front of the clubhouse and the putting green. She honed in on the ball at her feet on the fringe of the green, grasping her putter, while three groups remained elsewhere on the course. Mika was all alone, as she hopes is the case atop the leaderboard come the final round’s conclusion.

By Matt Schneidman | The Buffalo News Naomi Ko finished sixth in the 2016 Women’s Porter Cup and will return to Niagara Falls Country Club for Wednesday’s opening round. The first round of the 2017 Women’s Porter Cup tees off Wednesday morning at Niagara Falls Country Club, with five of last year’s top-10 finishers returning to Western New York for one of golf’s biggest amateur tournaments and the fifth annual edition of the women’s event. Jaclyn Lee (tied for third), Jackie Rogowicz (sixth), Naomi Ko (tied for seventh), Nikolette Schroeder (ninth) and Valerie Tanguay (tied for 10th) return in 2017 for a chance at the crown held by defending champion Josee Doyon of St-Georges, Québec. Last year, only Doyon carded a final score in the red (-3), with runner-up Princess Superal finishing five strokes back in the three-day event. This will be the fourth straight year the reigning champion doesn’t return to defend her crown. Two of the top locals in this year’s field are Catherine Peters, from Clarence, and Maren Cipolla, from Lewiston. Peters finished 10th at the 2015 Women’s Porter Cup and tied for 26th last year. She graduated from Michigan in 2016 after being named All-Big Ten second team her senior season for the Wolverines. Cipolla turned in a strong finish at the 2015 event, tying for seventh place, before slipping to a tie for 58th last year. She won the 2016 New York State Junior Championship and just finished her first year on the University of Texas women’s golf team. This year’s international contingent consists of 21 golfers from Canada and five from the Phillipines as part of the 72-person field. The first group tees off a 8 a.m. Wednesday and the last at noon.

By Jay Skurski | Buffalo News Sports The origins of this project were simple enough. During last year’s Porter Cup, News deputy sports editor Bob DiCesare and I were looking through the program put out by the tournament committee when we came across a page with the current top 25 in the world golf rankings, highlighting just how many of them had competed at Niagara Falls Country Club. Every year, the tournament is described as one of the premier amateur stroke-play events in the country. But seeing that list of the world’s best, with so many of them having come through Lewiston, really drove that point home. It also led to a plan, which was to form an all-decades team. The Porter Cup’s website lists 2,277 players who have competed in the event since it debuted in 1959. For some of them, it was the highlight of their golf career. For others, it was a mere pit stop on the road to stardom. As you might imagine, narrowing down a five-member team for five decades (for our purposes, 1959 was included as part of the 1960s, while the 2000s is just one team, since those who competed from 2010 until the present day are still establishing themselves) was not an easy task. Multiple World Golf Hall of Fame members didn’t make the list. Special attention was given to a player’s career accomplishments, including and especially after their Porter Cup appearance(s). With input from DiCesare, News Sports Reporter Mark Gaughan and long-time Niagara Gazette sportswriter Bill McGrath – the dean of Porter Cup coverage – here is The Buffalo News’ Porter Cup all-decades team: 1960s • Ward Wettlaufer Porter Cup appearances: 10 (1959-60, ’68, ’70) Best finish: Won (1960, ’65) Career highlights: A 22-time club champion at the Country Club of Buffalo, Wetlaufer is the only Western New Yorker to ever play on a U.S. Walker Cup team, winning both of his matches in 1959. Held the Porter Cup scoring record for 25 years, from 1965 to 1989. From left: Bill Harvey, John Konsek and Ward Wettlaufer. • John Konsek Porter Cup appearances: 5 (1959-63) Best finish: Won (1959, ’61) Career highlights: The best-ever area amateur player, Konsek’s competitive playing days ended when he entered medical school at 20, on the way to becoming an oncologist. While at Purdue, Konsek defeated Ohio State’s Jack Nicklaus, who would later say Konsek could have been one of the greatest players ever. • Lanny Wadkins Porter Cup appearances: 2 (1968, ’70) Best finish: T2 (1970) Career highlights: A 21-time PGA Tour winner, including the 1977 PGA championship, Wadkins’ amateur career was just as decorated as his time as a pro. Known for his competitiveness and quick pace of play, Wadkins won the 1970 U.S. Amateur and represented the U.S. on two Walker Cups and nine Ryder Cups. • Deane Beman Porter Cup appearances: 3 (1964-66) Best finish: Won (1964) Career highlights: Beman will always best be known for his time as PGA Tour commissioner from 1974-94, a time when professional golf skyrocketed in popularity and purses grew along with it. He was an accomplished player, too, with four Tour title, two U.S. Amateurs and his Porter Cup win. • Gary Cowan Porter Cup appearances: 9 (1969-70, 1976, 1978, 1980-81, 1985, 1988-90) Best finish: Won (1969) Career highlights: Just how good was Cowan? He was voted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1967, at the age of 28. An eight-time Masters participant, Cowan won just about every title an amateur player can win, including two U.S. Amateurs. He represented Canada 19 times in international play. Honorable mentions: Mark McCormack, Bill Harvey, Leonard Thompson, Pete Dye, Vinny Giles. 1970s Ben Crenshaw • Ben Crenshaw Porter Cup appearances: 2 (1972-73) Best finish: Won (1972) Career highlights: A two-time Masters champion and 17-time winner on the PGA Tour, Crenshaw won in Lewiston during one of the best runs by an amateur the sport has ever seen. He won three straight NCAA championships from 1971-73. His influence continues today through his course design company. • John Cook Porter Cup appearances: 3 (1977-79) Best finish: Won (1979) Career highlights: Cook’s 12-foot birdie putt capped a final-round 66 and gave him a thrilling victory in ’79 – the only time he led the tournament all week. From there, he won 11 times on the PGA Tour and has added 10 more wins on the Champions Tour, on which he’s still active. • Scott Simpson Porter Cup appearances: 3 (1975-77) Best finish: Won (1976) Career highlights: The same year Simpson won in Lewiston, he played his first event on the PGA Tour. It was the first of many. His PGA Tour career consisted of 600 starts, with seven victories, including the 1987 U.S. Open. He’s made 226 more starts on the Champions Tour. • Bobby Clampett Porter Cup appearances: 2 (1978-79) Best finish: Won (1978) Bobby Clampett Career highlights: A three-time first-team All-American, Clampett shot a course-record 62 in the second round and birdied 15, 16 and 17 in the final round to win in 1978. His pro career didn’t live up to expectations, with just one PGA Tour win. He also had a successful broadcasting career. • Corey Pavin Porter Cup appearances: 2 (1978-79) Best finish: 5th(1979). Career highlights: Although he didn’t win in Lewiston, Pavin went on to have a Hall of Fame-caliber career that included 660 starts on the PGA Tour, with 15 wins, including a major championship. He spent more than 150 weeks in a row in the top 10 of the world golf rankings. Honorable mentions: Curtis Strange, Jay Haas, Craig Stadler, Howard Twitty, Andy North. 1980s Jay Sigel • Jay Sigel Porter Cup appearances: 28 (1962, 1964-65, 1967, 1969-83, 1985-93) Best finish: Won (1975, ’81, ’87). Career highlights: The best player in Porter Cup history, Sigel is the only three-time winner of the event. The top amateur in the country as an insurance salesman in the ‘70s and ‘80s, he also had six second-place finishes. After joining the Champions Tour in 1994, he won eight times. • Mark O’Meara Porter Cup appearances: 2 (1979-80) Best finish: T6 (1980) Career highlights: A World Golf Hall of Famer, O’Meara has 14 career PGA Tour wins, two major championships and won the Tour Player of the Year award in 1998, when he won the Masters and Open Championship. He has won tournaments in Europe, Japan, Australia and South America. • Jim Furyk Porter Cup appearances: 4 (1988-91) Best finish: T29 (1991) Career highlights: While he never seriously threatened in Lewiston, Furyk has gone on to a stellar pro career that includes 17 PGA Tour wins and counting. The most recently named Ryder Cup captain, he’s the only player in Tour history to shoot a 58, and the 2003 U.S. Open champion. • Scott Verplank Porter Cup appearances: 3 (1983-85) Best finish: Won (1983, ’85) Career highlights: Verplank finished first, second and first in his three years in Lewiston, part of a sparking amateur career that included a win on the PGA Tour. Injuries prevented Verplank from reaching the heights many expected, but he still has five career wins and two Ryder Cup appearances. • Davis Love III Porter Cup appearances: 2 (1982, ’84) Best finish: T22 (1982) Career highlights: A 21-time winner on the PGA Tour, Love has made more than $44 million in career earnings. He has one major victory, at the 197 PGA Championship, is the last to be achieved with a wooden-headed driver. He’s made 735 Tour starts, and captained the most recent Ryder Cup team. Honorable mentions: Tom Lehman, Steve Stricker, Lee Janzen, Rocco Mediate, Dudley Hart. 1990s Tiger Woods • Tiger Woods Porter Cup appearances: 1 (1994) Best finish: T8 (1994) Career highlights: In the conversation with Jack Nicklaus for the best ever, with 79 Tour wins, $110 million in career earnings and 14 majors. His ace of the par-3 12th is an all-time Porter Cup moment. Rain washed out the final round of his only appearance, leaving him three shots behind. • Phil Mickelson Porter Cup appearances: 2 (1989-90) Best finish: Won (1990) Career highlights: A final-round 63 capped by a 25-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole gave Mickelson the win in one of the best Porter Cup finishes ever. From there, he’s built a case as one of the dozen best players of all time, with five majors and 40-plus Tour wins. Always smiling along the way, he’s this generation’s Arnold Palmer. • David Duval Porter Cup appearances: 3 (1990-92) Best finish: Won (1991) Career highlights: Duval erased his one-shot loss to Mickelson in 1990 with a final-round birdie on the par-3 16th to win in 1992. From 1997 to 2001, Duval won 13 times on Tour, including the British Open for his only major. He also knocked Tiger Woods from No. 1 in the world. • Matt Kuchar Porter Cup appearances: 1 (1997) Best finish: 2 (1997) Career highlights: With more than 80 top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour, Kuchar’s consistency is his single best trait. Last summer, he represented the U.S. at the Olympics in Rio, coming home with a bronze medal. Ranked 20th in the world, he’s in the conversation for best to have never won a major. • Adam Scott Porter Cup appearances: 2 (1998-99) Best finish: T18 (1998) Career highlights: A 13-time PGA Tour winner, Scott is currently ranked eighth in the world. He’s been as high as No. 1 in the world back in 2014. The 2013 Masters champion, he has 29 wins across the globe. The native Australian possesses one of the prettiest swings in all of golf. Honorable mentions: Justin Leonard, Mike Weir, Stewart Cink, Tim Clark, Ben Curtis. 2000s Dustin Johnson • Dustin Johnson Porter Cup appearances: 2 (2006-07) Best finish: T9 (2007) Career highlights: After breaking through for last year’s U.S. Open championship, his first major, Johnson has gone on to establish himself as the best golfer in the world. The No. 1 player is the favorite every time he enters a tournament at the moment. Crazy long off the tee, he’s developed a short game to match. Former Porter Cup Tournament Director Steve Denn with Jason Day • Jason Day Porter Cup appearances: 1 (2005) Best finish: T2 (2009) Career highlights: A former world No. 1, Day peaked in 2015 with a five-win season on the PGA Tour, including the PGA Championship for his only major. He’s gone through some personal struggles as his mother currently battles cancer, but is still firmly one of the five best players in the world. • Rickie Fowler Porter Cup appearances: 1 (2007) Best finish: T26 (2007) Career highlights: A member of the U.S. Olympic team in Rio last year, Fowler has caught the attention of a younger generation of golf fans for his flashy outfits. He’s got the game to match, too, ranking eighth in the world. He’s chasing his elusive first major championship. • Patrick Reed Porter Cup appearances: 1 (2009) Best finish: T49 (2009) Career highlights: The hero of the U.S. Ryder Cup team’s win last year, Reed is a brash, confident player who famously said he was a “top-five player” in the world back in 2014. He’s not far off, currently ranked 13th, and like Fowler chasing his first major title. • Bill Haas Porter Cup appearances: 2 (2002-03) Best finish: T5 (2003) Career highlights: Haas, whose father, Jay, was also an accomplished Porter Cup player, holds the course record at NFCC with a 60 in 2003. He set the NCAA career scoring average for Wake Forest and has six career PGA Tour wins along with the 2011 FedEx Cup. Honorable mentions: Hunter Mahan, Brandt Snedeker, Billy Horschel, Webb Simpson, Brian Harman.

By Jay Skurski | Buffalo News Sports Reporter Harrison Endycott showed he had more than just the steady hands of a surgeon Saturday. He also had the guts of a burglar in stealing the 58th Porter Cup away from Gavin Hall. A 20-year-old Australian bursting with moxie, Endycott shot a 3-under 67 in the final round to finish at 14-under 266 for 72 holes, besting Hall by a single shot. “I just went and did my thing today,” the ever-confident native of Sydney said. “I thought, I’ve been in these situations before, I know what I’ve got to do. If I can just stay present, play my shots one shot at a time and make some birdies, we’ll see what it does at the end of the day.” Gavin Hall congratulates Harrison Endycott. (Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News) That plan made his the third-ever Australian champion, and second in three years following Geoff Drakeford’s 2014 victory. “It means a lot for a lot of Aussie golfers. The Porter Cup is such a known event through Australia and really all world amateurs,” Endycott said. “I feel privileged to win it.” Even if he’ll have to explain to his friends back home where it is. “A lot of Aussies don’t even know where Buffalo is,” he joked. “Every time I go home, they’re like, ‘Oh, you were in New York?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, I was in Buffalo.’ And they’re like, ‘That’s not New York.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, well it is. It’s an hour flight the other way.’ A four-shot deficit to start the day still faced Endycott on the 12th tee. A sizable gallery was also clearly pulling for Hall, from nearby Pittsford. None of that fazed Endycott. “I’ve won before,” he said. “I knew how to win in this situation, but at the same time I did have to play good at the right time. I managed to do that, and it was nice to get it done. Endycott played the final seven holes in 3-under, while Hall went 2-over. “My driver really wasn’t feeling good,” Endycott said. “But other than that, my ball-striking felt awesome out there. All week it felt good. I knew if I could stay present … I was going to execute with some birdies.” The biggest of those came on the par-3 16th hole. Facing a 40-foot, right-to-left breaker up the hill, Endycott watched … and watched … as the putt fell. When Hall missed a 7-footer up the Hill for a three-putt bogey, the pair flip-flopped on the leader board. “That thing just snapped its head off toward the end,” Endycott said of his putt. “As it was snapping it’s head off, I was like, ‘Ok, this could be good.’ ” It was Endycott’s second 40-foot birdie putt in three holes, following a similar bomb on the par-4 14th. “Sometimes you need a little bit of luck when you’re holing a 40-footer,” he said. “Yeah, you’ve got to hit a good putt, but you can stand there and hit a good putt to an inch all day. You need that little luck.” Endycott got up and down from the front of the green on the par-4 17th, while Hall missed a 15-foot birdie attempt that could have squared things. That saved all the drama for the last. Harrison Endycott hits the flop shot that set up his victory at the Porter Cup. (Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News) Endycott was first, and sent his 5-iron over the green. “I thought it was all over it,” Endycott said. “That wind, as it got halfway through those trees, just completely died, and it just sailed over the pin. I’m like, ‘You’re kidding me.’ ” What remained was a supreme short-game test. In the rough long of the green, Endycott had about 12 feet of green to work with, but was going straight down hill. “It was one of those pitches, I had to kill it in the fringe, trickle it down there, and expect to hole a 5-footer,” he said. “I managed to do that, which was good.” Actually, it was great. Harrison Endycott with the Porter Cup. (Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News) With hundreds of fans swarming the green, and Hall in tight for a 7-foot birdie try, Endycott had about a 2-foot landing area to hit. Bull’s-eye. “All this stuff to me is just preparation,” Endycott said. “It’s all learning what it’s like to hit shots under the gun, hit shots when you have to. That’s why I’m very proud of myself this week, because I managed to do it.” Endycott, who came into the week 21st in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, has five wins this season, but it was a second-place finish two weeks ago at the Players Amateur that stuck with him. “I was really hungry for a win after the Players,” he said. “I played so well, but you get so little out of second place, so it was a bit frustrating.” Hall is left to deal with that harsh reality. The 21-year-old played flawless golf through 54 holes, leading after each of the first three rounds. But putts that had been falling simply stopped finding the hole Saturday. “Gavin’s a phenomenal player,” Endycott said. “His putting stats didn’t indicate how well he really putted today. He’s going to be a great player. He’s so consistent. You’re going to see a lot of him.” Endycott missed a 5-footer for birdie on the par-4 15th that could have tied him for the lead, setting the stage for the drama that seems to always come on the closing three holes at Niagara Falls. Facing a 60-footer across and up the severely sloped 16th green, Hall never got the ball high enough. He left himself a 7-footer for par that just grazed the right edge. “I hit a pretty good second putt,” he said. “My putter has been letting me down.” That was true on the 18th. After sticking his tee shot to 7 feet left of the pin, his putt never came down. “I kind of pushed it outside my line,” he said. “At that point, I was trying to will the ball in. I don’t know why nothing was going in. It was just one of those days. I hit a really good shot into that 18th hole just to give myself a chance.” Hall could only watch as Endycott completed an all-world up-and-down. “It was pretty unbelievable,” Hall said. “He played great. … He made a lot of putts today. That’s golf. This is a pretty disappointing game.” Harrison Endycott is doused after winning the Porter Cup at Niagara Falls Country Club. (Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News) Hall has now finished in the top 10 in every one of his five Porter Cup appearances, but is still chasing that elusive victory. “I think my time is coming,” he said. “Certainly, it hurts now. … I really haven’t had many tournaments go my way. It’s bound to turn around at some point. I don’t know when it’s going to be. It’s surely going to feel pretty good. As long as I keep working hard and doing the right things, I’ll be in good position.” Saturday, however, belonged to Endycott. After he holed his 5-footer for the win, some friends gave him a champagne shower on the 18th green.  He soaked up every last drop. “It’s definitely a bit of a feather in the cap,” he said. email: jskurski@buffnews.com

By Bob DiCesare | Buffalo News Sports Reporter For many of the locals in the field the Porter Cup served to bolster their confidence for the days ahead. Lewiston’s Michael Boss could hardly have been more consistent in topping the local contingent at the 58th annual Porter Cup (Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News). Michael Boss, son of Niagara Falls Country Club head pro John Boss, topped the local contingent of 12 with rounds that could barely have been more consistent – 71-71-70-70 for a 2-over total of 282. He finished tied for 29th, missing out by a stroke on a top-25 placement that guarantees a return invitation. “I could have played a little better every day,” Boss said. “Left a couple shots out there but overall good experience, good tournament. Those are good scores, consistent. Nothing too flashy, no big mistakes or anything like that, so that was nice.” He bogeyed the first hole and chipped in on the par-3 seventh for his lone birdie. Ben Reichert, the Williamsville North graduate bound for East Tennessee State, produced his second sub-par round of the tournament, a 69, to finish second among locals at 286. He opened with a 68 and followed with rounds of 77 and 72 and tied for 44th. “Really just had one bad round that shot me out of it,” Reichert said. “Gained some confidence. I played two solid rounds, one mediocre round … second day, got unlucky, hit bad shots, that’s just about as bad as it can get. I bounced back pretty strong though today so I’m definitely carrying some confidence into the rest of the summer.” Billy Gaffney and International Junior Masters champ David Hanes finished three strokes back of Reichert, tied for 53rd at 289. Gaffney closed with a 71 while Hanes, who will play at Canisius College, came in at 74.  The tournament was a goal fulfilled for Gaffney, who failed in multiple qualifying attempts before shooting 66 at this year’s play-in. “Wish I would have played a lot better. I obviously was consistent but I was consistently not so good,” he said. “I hit the ball well, I didn’t get a lot of putts to fall in, and that’s really the game, getting it inside 20 feet and getting some putts to fall. I just didn’t get any putts to fall.” Gaffney used a caddie other than his father, John, in the qualifier and earlier in the tournament but turned the bag over to him on Saturday. “It’s my first Porter Cup and it’s my last as of right now,” explained Billy, who plans to relocate to Houston and turn pro, with the goal of attending Canadian Tour Qualifying School in the spring. John Gaffney was long one of the area’s top players, winning the state amateur in 1999. Other local finishes: Jake Katz 68-293-tie 59, Jamie Miller 77-294-61, Josh Stauffer 73-296-T63, Desmond Stoll 73-300-T72, Nick Morreale 78, Billy Hanes 77-303-T76, Chris Yustin 76-310-T78, Marc Holzhauer 81-316-81.

By Jay Skurski | Buffalo News Sports Reporter Tony Bagneschi waited nearly 30 years for his second Porter Cup experience. A Niagara Falls native and current resident of Scottsdale, Ariz., Bagneschi caddied for winner Tony Mollica in 1988. He went from carrying clubs to using them this week after advancing through the qualifying tournament last month. Niagara Falls native Tony Bagneschi played in his first Porter Cup at age 42. (Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News) “I played really well in the qualifier,” Bagneschi, 42, said. “I tried to choke it away at the end, but shot 1-under and got through. … This is a fun experience for a guy who plays a couple times a week if I’m lucky. To come home and try to compete with these guys is fun. Get four rounds in and see where the game is.” Bagneschi is a partner in Insight Land & Investments, a boutique real-estate company that works with land developers and builders in the Phoenix area. He plays two or three times a week and is a scratch handicap. “It’s something to get the competitive juices flowing,” he said. Bagneschi graduated from La Salle High School in 1992 and went to Ferris State University. From 1996 to 2000, he worked as a club professional in both Manhattan and Florida during the winter months. “I’d go down there and play some mini-tour events,” Bagneschi said. “I didn’t have the drive to compete with those guys. It takes a lot, and I wasn’t focused back then.” He headed west in 2000 to the Phoenix area, and didn’t play for about five years. After picking the clubs back up, he returned to playing competitively about four years ago. He’ll play in a handful of Arizona State Golf Association events and select team tournaments across the country. He’s a member at Whisper Rock Golf Club, the Phil Mickelson-designed course that counts about 25 PGA Tour players as members. “In the fall, after the Tour season, from Thanksgiving to Christmas, if we’ve got a scratch game with 20 guys, there’s 10 Tour pros, so it’s fun,” he said. He had attempted to qualify for the Porter Cup “four or five” times before getting into the field. One of Bagneschi’s best friends, Brent Gadacz, is a member at Niagara Falls and the two partnered up for the club’s member-guest tournament. That gave Bagneschi some time to prepare for the qualifier, and he “finally got through.” Bagneschi opened with a round of 77, then followed up consecutive 75s. He closed his first Porter Cup on Saturday with his best round, a 3-over 73.

By Mary Kunz Goldman | Buffalo News Staff Reporter His name was A.W. Tillinghast. They called him Tillie. Tillie, who died in 1942, was one of the world’s great golf course designers, and one of three who created the dreamlike greens at the Niagara Falls Country Club in Lewiston. Tillie was rich but he wanted everyone, not just the elite, to discover the beauty of golf. Surely he smiles down on the Porter Cup. Founded in 1959 and played on his Lewiston course, it one of golf’s most prestigious amateur competitions. It is also free. Go. You have through July 30. Drive there, park – it’s easy – and check it out. If I can, anyone can. I’d never liked golf, even though I have a niece, Emily Mills, who is a golf champion at Rutgers University. I had no idea how to watch golf. Arriving Wednesday at the stately club, which dates to 1901, I questioned the nearest spectator, who turned out to be Gary Leo of Amherst. Billy Gaffney of East Amherst blasts out of the sand trap on the 18th hole during play this week at the Porter Cup at Niagara Falls Country Club. (Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News) “The best in the country, the collegiate and the amateur, are here,” he whispered. “The beauty is that here we are 15 or 20 feet away.” Leo plays golf as a hobby, and never misses the Porter Cup. He was whispering so as not to break a nearby player’s concentration. We made friends, as Western New Yorkers do. A stranger in this paradise, I was grateful for his guidance. Golf is as leisurely as the day is long. Even rain is part of the rhythm. “Guys, we’re going to suspend play,” announced an official, cheerily, as thunder rumbled. Everyone took shelter with Cokes and umbrella tables. “Weather delays happen all the time. Weather’s a part of the game,” said club member Steve Dillon, also waiting out the cloudburst. A time-out, he said, affects players in various ways. “When they’re hot, they’re going to lose their steam. The guys for whom it’s not going so well see it as an opportunity.” The Porter Cup, Dillon said, is still run as it was a half century ago. Players enjoy planned evening activities – the Maid of the Mist one night, a barbecue the next. They stay in private homes. “It’s awesome,” said Ryan Celano, one of two players from Florida staying with Dillon’s family. “The community is behind it. They have everything lined up for you.” It’s rare to have players and audience so close. But Adam Wood, a player from Duke University, said it’s not an issue. “All of us have played an awful lot of golf,” he said. The sky cleared. The tournament resumed in tropical heat. “Humid,” Dillon smiled. Good cheer, I saw, was par for the course. Players tote their own clubs. They walk with the spectators over the greens and across the highway. Everyone thanks the officer who stops the traffic. “It’s very much a gentleman’s sport. Very rarely do you find someone with a hot temper,” said Dalena Elliott. She was cheering on her husband, Gene, who won the Porter Cup in 1998. “I sometimes caddy for my husband. He never loses his cool.” That’s admirable, because the pressure can be great. “There are no teammates to blame, no teammates to pick you up,” said a Tonawanda contender, Nick Morreale. Golfers say the Porter Cup is inspiring. Older players shine with their skill and experience. Younger players are worth watching because there’s a good chance you are seeing a future great. (Maybe you’ve heard of Phil Mickelson? He won in 1990.) Much depends on the moment. Is the grass damp or dry? What about the wind? Even the time of day can make a difference. Charmed, I found myself concentrating – and easing into the slower pace of an earlier era. Cicadas sang in the trees. Birds tweeted. Hawks wheeled overhead. The vistas changed depending on where you stood. Thwack! We watched, spellbound. “They make it look so casual,” Leo said. “But it’s anything but.” Later, I marveled at a photo of a young Tiger Woods, playing in the Porter Cup in 1994. And the Porter Cup itself – huge, shining, inscribed with the names of champions. I began bragging about my niece, and how she should be in the ladies’ Porter Cup, and – How did this happen? When did I become a golf fan? I don’t know. All I know is, I am. I guess I have Tillie to thank. email: mkunz@buffnews.com

By Bob DiCesare | Buffalo News Sports Reporter How about rewarding the low local with a Fred Silver Award and a return invitation? (Sharon Cantillon/Buffalo News} If the Porter Cup committee believes that having more local players heightens interest in the tournament, then here’s the next logical step: Give those players added incentive to grind to the end. As it stands Friday afternoon, no local is going to challenge for the top 25 and qualify for an automatic invitation to next year’s event. All they’ll be playing for on Saturday is pride and improvement – which are noble pursuits that fail to inspire final-day drama. The solution? Reward the low local with a return invitation if no one finishes in the top 25.  Bestow him with an award named in honor of a local who’s had a major impact on the event. Like Fred Silver. Without a doubt – Fred Silver. Come Saturday morning the 12 locals still in the field – Jake Kreuz withdrew after Thursday – will give it their all. How much more fun it would be if there was a carrot dangling in front of them.

By Jay Skurski | Buffalo News Sports Reporter Mike Boss continues to lead the local contingent through three rounds of the Porter Cup. Lewiston’s Michael Boss continues to lead the local contingent at the Porter Cup. (Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News) Boss shot a round of even-par 70 Friday at Niagara Falls Country Club. “It was all right,” Boss said. “I could have scored a lot better. I had a couple bad bogeys on the back nine that shouldn’t have happened. I really rolled the ball. I was putting well today. I actually hit a lot of really good shots. I feel like I played better than my score reflected.” Boss said the pins Friday were more accessible than the first two rounds. “It was gettable today,” he said. “A little easier than the past two days, I thought. I’m curious to see how low some guys can take it.” Boss is currently 2-over for the tournament, in a tie for 36th. The goal for Saturday’s third round? “Get it in red numbers,” he said. “I’m 2-over for the tournament, so 67, I’m under par. I can do that. Make some birdies tomorrow and minimize the mistakes.” Even though he’s just 23, Boss is playing in his sixth Porter Cup. He’s got a career-low round of 66 in tournament play, and 65 outside the Porter Cup. The recent graduate of Flagler College in St. Augustine, Fla., finished fourth in the 2016 Peach Belt Conference Championship. He recently qualified for the U.S. Amateur, but hasn’t played in many other tournaments this year. “So it’s nice to be playing decently well here,” he said. Elma’s David Hanes moved up to a tie for 48th after a round of 2-under 68 that was the best among the 13 local players in the field Friday. The rest of their results from Friday are as follows: Silver Creek’s Jamie Miller, 1-under 69 (tied for 53rd), East Amherst’s Ben Reichert, 2-over 72 (tied for 53rd), Williamsville’s Bill Gaffney, 2-over 72 (tied for 53rd), Lewiston’s Nick Morreale, (6-over 76, tied for 67th), Williamsville’s Jake Katz, 5-over 75 (70th), Elma’s Billy Hanes,  6-over 76 (tied for 71st), Lockport’s Desmond Stoll, 9-over 79 (tied for 73rd), East Amherst’s Chris Yustin, 9-over 79 (79th), Clarence’s Marc Holzhauer, 9-over 79 (80th). Amherst’s Jake Kreuz withdrew from the field.

By Bob DiCesare | Buffalo News Sports Reporter Jamie Miller’s golf game has been in fine shape although by his own admittance the first two rounds of the Porter Cup clouded the truth. Birdies were hard to come by. The short par-5s that invite red numbers confounded. His opening rounds of 75 and 73 were devoid of the magic at hand when he shot 63 a couple weeks back in the member-member at Wanakah Country Club. “I feel OK about it, felt like it could have been a lot better,” said Miler, 31, a Silver Creek native who resides in Orchard Park.  “I’ve been playing well except for the first two rounds so I can’t really complain. I haven’t really taken advantage of the par 5s. I’ve probably played them close to even-par and it kills you, because all of them are reachable. Today I had 230 into 13 and I par.  You keep doing that and you’re not going to shoot a very good score.” The summer’s far from over. Miller will play a U.S Mid-Amateur qualifier on Tuesday in Pittsford and the New York State Amateur. Good showings would position him to realize his goal of a berth on the three-man state USGA team that will compete in a September national competition in Birmingham, Ala. “So I’m trying to play so I can hopefully get picked for that.”

By Jay Skurski | Buffalo News Sports Reporter As he watched his brother on the 18th hole from the gallery Friday, a fan offered Billy Hanes some solace. “Hey, at least you can drink beer,” he told him. After three rounds of the 58th Porter Cup at Niagara Falls Country Club, the 30-year-old Hanes needed one. His 18-year-old younger brother, David, is up 11 shots on him through 54 holes. “He’s beating me up pretty good,” Billy admitted. David Hanes made his first career hole-in-one during the third round of the Porter Cup at Niagara Falls Country Club. (Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News) David poured it on during the third round, finishing at 2-under 68 in a round that included his first career hole-in-one. That came on the par-3 seventh hole, with a 6-iron. “It was 181 yards into the wind,” David said. “The pin was tucked right behind the bunker, so you couldn’t really see it. I didn’t see it go in. It was nice and high, pure. Bounced right in front of the hole, then I saw people raising their hands and going crazy. I went nuts. I was high-fiving everyone around there. It was like a dream. I couldn’t think of a better way to get a hole-in-one.” Even if it dented his chances at bragging rights, Billy offered praise of his younger brother’s game. “He’s just very solid,” he said. “He doesn’t do anything crazy, like ‘oh wow, he hits a drive that far.’ He just plays solid, consistent golf, which is important out here. There’s a lot of shots you can get in trouble. I know it doesn’t look like it, but you hit a bad shot on a lot of these holes and it’s a big number just waiting.” David has improved his score each day, from 75 to 72 to 68. His second round was undone by a double bogey on the par-4 sixth hole, but he cleaned up any such mental lapses Friday, erasing three bogeys with three birdies to go with his ace. “I’m learning the course,” he said. “I haven’t played here too much, but every single day I’m learning what to do more and more. Getting used to the greens I’d say is the biggest thing.” A graduate of St. Francis High School who will play for Canisius College in the fall, David is coming into his own this summer. He won the International Junior Masters earlier this month, followed that up with the Buffalo District Golf Association Junior Stroke Play championship and also qualified for the New York State Amateur. To get into this week’s field, he shot a 3-under 67 at the qualifier last month. He admitted teeing it up Wednesday in the first round was as nervous as he’s been on a golf course. But things got better in the second round. “I didn’t really feel any pressure,” he said. “It just felt like a normal tournament.” Billy can relate to those feelings. He still remembers those nerves during his first Porter Cup experience, which came as a 16-year-old in 2002. “I believe I birdied the first hole,” Billy said, “and I freaked out. I think I ended up shooting 79. Even now, it’s nerve-racking to be out here. It’s the Porter Cup, so it’s a big deal.” That’s why it’s so special for the Hanes family to see the brothers going head to head. “I was thrilled when he qualified,” Billy said. It was great when they put us back to back on the tee times the first couple of days, so we could eye each other up. It’s cool to be here at 30, playing in it again. I’m just happy to be here, you know?” Billy shot a round of 6-over 76 Friday, with his round coming unglued with a triple bogey on the par-4 17th hole. A short time after finishing out, he could only smile as his brother poured in a 40-foot birdie putt on the 18th green, drawing a nice round of applause from the gallery. “I tapped it like a 5-foot putt,” David said. “I just watched it roll and roll and go in.” “This is going to help him even more, to play pretty solid here,” Billy said. “That’s a whole other level. … He’s finding himself for sure, and this week further illustrates that. He can hang with these guys.” With a smile tattooed across his face following his round, he couldn’t wait to needle his brother about the ace. Billy doesn’t have one yet in his career. “There will be some trash talk,” David said. “I just want to beat him. So bad.”