The Walker Cup changes the complexion of every other summer amateur tournament. Golfers in contention for a spot on either team (Great Britain & Ireland and the U.S.) make an effort to delay turning professional and register for as many high-profile events as are available, hoping to catch the eye of the team captains and selection committees. Thanks to the upcoming 44^th playing of the matches, the Porter Cup near Niagara Falls, NY, anticipates a strong field and a dramatic finish.

The Lewiston course played host to the first Women’s Porter Cup in June. The members’ arrangement of the nines was used, and Casie Cathrea emerged with a 3-stroke victory. For the men’s version, the nines will revert to their traditional championship alignment, ensuring that the final five holes (featuring two short par 4s, two sizeable par 3s and a massive two-shotter) will keep pundits and aficionados guessing the outcome until the final stroke is played.

Patrick Rodgers, the 2011 champion, is in the field. Fresh off a T15 finish at the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic, Rodgers is on the cusp of becoming the most successful Porter Cupper ever. Add his top-three finish from 2012 to his win and Rodgers rates as highly as the Scott Verplanks and Phil Mickelsons of Porter Cup lore.

Max Homa and Michael Weaver will also tee it up on Wednesday. The duo, along with Michael Kim, orchestrated the finest team collegiate season in history as members of the University of California in 2013. Weaver was runner-up at the 2012 U.S. Amateur championship and Homa won the individual competition at the 2013 NCAA Division 1 Championships.

Kim was low amateur at the 2013 U.S. Open and the consensus collegiate player of the year, and finished as runner-up at the recently-completed USGA Amateur Public Links. Due to the demands of the Publinks, Kim withdrew from the Porter Cup. For balance, the Division II national champion (Tim Crouch from Florida Southern) is also in the field.

Despite the emphasis on the closing quintet of holes, other moments on the Niagara Falls country club course back nine build a foundation to the conclusion. Let’s not forget Patrick Rodgers’ run in 2011, when he eagled Nos. 11, parred 12 and eagled 13 to begin the most notable comeback in tournament history. Rodgers would go on to win on the first playoff hole.

The 11^th and 13^th are much as they were then, but the 12^th has taken on a bit more character. Once a cute par three with a troublesome green, No. 12 is now two holes in one. Thanks to a putting-surface rebuild and renovation by Tripp Davis (also a tournament competitor), the shorty can now play from 115 yards to the front portion of the green (a la the 13^th at Merion) up to 150 yards to a back and left hole location.

An overseas contingent will grace the fairways of Niagara Falls during Porter Cup week. Recent British Amateur runner-up Toni Hakula of Finland and the University of Texas will be joined by Englishmen Joshua White and Benjamin Taylor. Argentines Alejandro Tosti, Jaime Lopez and Santiago Bauni will compete with antipodeans James Gibellini, Jake McLeod, Callan O’Reilly, Brady Watt (Australia) and Joshua Munn and Compton Pikari (New Zealand.) Cross-border rivals from Canada include perennial contender Garrett Rank, Taylor Pendrith, Justin Shin and Stephane Dubois.

In January, the United States Golf Association announced that a minimum of two mid-amateurs (25 years and older) would be included on the ten-man U.S. side for the September playing at National Golf Links of America, Southampton, NY. In previous competitions, Nathan Smith had carried the torch for the older set. Smith will once again compete at the Porter Cup, where he has had little success historically. He will be joined by fellow mid-ams Todd White, Nick Gilliam, Scott Harvey, Skip Berkmeyer, Jr., Matt Crenshaw, Tim Mickelson and John Engler, two of whom (I guarantee!) will wear the colors of the U.S. side come September.

It’s not that Niagara Falls country club starts slowly. The entire front nine traverses an at-grade field, with little vertical movement. A few years back, the club committed to improving the second hole. Long a ho-hum affair with little strategy, the club swapped the location of its chipping green and second green, giving the second hole a bit more bend, a cross bunker in the drive zone and a sneaky, hidden bunker some 70 yards short of the putting surface. A fiendish, back-left hole location will cause headaches during at least one round.

The 3^rd hole is a reachable par five, where more than a few eagles will be made. Mid-irons will be played to the 4^th (par 3) and 5^th (par 4), ensuring game-thoroughness from the competitors. The volcanic 7^th, a mid-length par three whose green nestles amid reefs of sand, offers a wide and shallow target which, if found, relinquishes a fine shot at birdie. The lengthy 8^th and 9^th, both par 4.5 holes, demand each competitor’s best before advancing to the vulnerable final nine.

Each Walker Cup year, a surprise candidate or two makes a run at the team via the summer tournament series. This year’s unexpected challengers might come from younger Porter Cup competitors like Beau Hossler and Rochester’s Gavin Hall, both entering freshmen at the University of Texas next Fall. Other potential victors from the younger set are Cody Proveaux (Clemson, Sophomore), Matt NeSmith (South Carolina, Sophomore), Shotaro Ban (California, Sophomore) and Danny Guisse (Wake Forest, Freshman.)

Thanks to the wet spring and moist summer, Niagara Falls country club has been able to dictate its own conditions, rather than find itself at the mercy of natural forces. As a result, rough will be at the level that pleases the superintendent, greens will reach a firmness that satisfies the tournament director and the course will provide a legitimate test for competitors hoping to peak for the Western and U.S. Amateur championships. One of them will depart western New York on Saturday, July 27^th with the most prestigious medal play, amateur title in the game.

(Photos by Alex Fisher, Special to GolfWRX)