Tour News
Debut of the Women’s Porter Cup
Does it surprise anyone that, in 2013, there is not an established if informal summer tour for the finest female, non-junior, amateur golfers in the U.S.?
It should and there isn’t.
Along with the USGA and a few scattered events, the members of the Niagara Falls Country Club (NY) will take a large step to establish such a circuit.
The Women’s Porter Cup debuts June 12 to the 14. It is most fitting that the host club for one of the oldest and most prestigious amateur events elects to inaugurate a women’s championship. For years, male and senior male amateurs have enjoyed an unofficial tour of amateur events, while the select female amateurs have depended on a brief, Florida-centered winter tour and a series of USGA events for competition.
The contestants of the first Women’s Porter Cup will follow 55 years of tradition on the men’s side and 24 senior amateur contests. Participants range in age from 15 to 35, with current members of university teams making up the majority of entrees. Chelsea Dantonio, the medalist at the recent Section VI Western New York State Public High School Qualifier, is the youngest entrant while Meghan Stasi, the defending and four-time USGA Mid-Amateur champion, anchors the veteran guard.
The men’s edition of the Porter Cup is viewed by many as the premier stroke-play amateur event in the country and is a step below only the U.S. and Western amateurs in prestige. The men’s senior edition, contested in September, has established itself as a fine event with a loyal following among the top older amateurs.
Now comes the women’s event, in an era that finds women’s sports reaching a greater following among participants and fans alike. How will this particular event succeed? Tournament director Brian Oakley, an NFCC member and director of Boeing programs for Magellan Aerospace, explains the charted course.
“Our men’s par is 70. We [anticipate that] the women’s event [will play to a] par of 72 by turning some of the longer par 4 holes into 5s. We expect to have the course play between 6200 and 6300 yards. We will feature a practice round for all competitors on June 11, followed by a three-day, no-cut event.”
The Porter Cup has long been known for its spirit of hospitality. Oakley confirmed that this same esprit will be a hallmark of the women’s event.
“On Wednesday evening after play we will take all the competitors for a tour of the Niagara River and Falls on the Maid of the Mist. Thursday evening features our player dinner on the patio at NFCC, overlooking the breathtaking Niagara River gorge. On Friday after play, we will award our inaugural crystal champion’s trophy to the first tournament champion.”
Like its older siblings, the Women’s Porter Cup will welcome a field of talented golfers. Headlining the field are Stasi and a number of top college golfers. Casie Cathrea (Oklahoma State), Zoe-Beth Brake (Ohio State), Jessica Hoang (Clemson) and Wanasa Zhou (Arkansas) will compete as university freshmen next fall. Emily Collins (Oklahoma) is a rising senior who competed in May at the NCAA championships for the ninth-place Sooners.
The most formidable collegiate entrant is Grace Na (Pepperdine), who averaged a shade over 72 strokes per round as a junior for the Wave, then earned First Team All America honors. Among the local favorites are Rene Sobolewski (Buffalo-Vanderbilt University), Catherine Peters (Clarence-University of Michigan) and Michelle Hanes (Elma-Jacksonville University.)
The Niagara Falls country club course provides a number of opportunities to go low at the beginning of each nine. The par five 4th and 11th holes yield a healthy number of birdies to regular and senior Porter Cup contestants, and the same should hold true at the Women’s event. The middle portion of each side represents the grind, where stringent holes present a manageable yet stern challenge to contestants. The final quadrilateral has offered its share of dramatic finishes throughout the 60 years of tournament competition.
The driveable par-four No. 15, the formidable par-three Nos. 16 and 18, and the long, uphill par-four No. 17 (which may convert to a par 5 for the Women’s edition) will certainly fix themselves in the players’ minds as the final leg of road well traveled. At twilight on June 14, a special contestant will raise the first of many crystal champions trophies to come at the Women’s Porter Cup.
Click here for more information on the Porter Cup events, which are still opened for entry.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 PGA Championship
GolfWRX is on site this week at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, for the PGA Championship.
While we see fewer equipment changes and new gear seeding at major championships, we get a look at custom gear and looks into the bags of players we rarely see, which is just as exciting. In the case of the PGA Championship, this means a look at the gear some of the PGA Professionals who qualified for the tournament will be gaming, and LIV players, such as Jon Rahm and Patrick Reed.
Check out links to all our albums from Valhalla below and check back throughout the week as we continue to update.
General Albums
WITB Albums
- Michael Block – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Patrick Reed – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Cam Smith – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brooks Koepka – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Josh Speight – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Takumi Kanaya – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Kyle Mendoza – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Adrian Meronk – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jordan Smith – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jeremy Wells – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jared Jones – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- John Somers – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Larkin Gross – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Tracy Phillips – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jon Rahm – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Keita Nakajima – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Kazuma Kobori – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- David Puig – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Ryan Van Velzen – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brad Marek – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Chris Gotterup – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Rich Beem WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Phil Mickelson – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Matt Dobyns – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Lucas Herbert – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jason Dufner – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- John Daly – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Taylor Gooch – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Dean Burmester – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Joaquin Niemann – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Dustin Johnson – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
Pullout Albums
- Ping putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Bettinardi covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Cameron putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Max Homa – Titleist 2 wood – 2024 PGA Championship
- Scotty Cameron experimental putter shaft by UST – 2024 PGA Championship
- Joaquin Niemann – new Ping putter – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brooks Koepka’s new Cameron putter – 2024 PGA Championship
- Rickie Fowler’s Cobra bag and Aerojet driver – 2024 PGA Championship
- Super Stroke grip – 2024 PGA Championship
- Tiger Woods – 2024 PGA Championship
- Michael Block’s new TaylorMade “Proto” 7-iron, from address – 2024 PGA Championship
- Odyssey putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
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News
Photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
GolfWRX is live this week at the Wells Fargo Championship as a field of the world’s best golfers descend upon Charlotte, North Carolina, hoping to tame the beast that is Quail Hollow Club in this Signature Event — only Scottie Scheffler, who is home awaiting the birth of his first child, is absent.
From the grounds at Quail Hollow, we have our usual assortment of general galleries and WITBs — including a look at left-hander Akshay Bhatia’s setup. Among the pullout albums, we have a look inside Cobra’s impressive new tour truck for you to check out. Also featured is a special look at Quail Hollow king, Rory McIlroy.
Be sure to check back throughout the week as we add more galleries.
General Albums
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Monday #1
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Tuesday #1
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Akshay Bhatia – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Matthieu Pavon – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Keegan Bradley – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Webb Simpson – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Emiliano Grillo – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Taylor Pendrith – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Kevin Tway – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
Pullout Albums
- New Cobra equipment truck – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rory McIlroy – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- New Cobra equipment truck – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Eric Cole’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Custom Cameron putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Matt Kuchar’s custom Bettinardi – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Justin Thomas – driver change – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rickie Fowler – putter change – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rickie Fowler’s new custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Tommy Fleetwood testing a TaylorMade Spider Tour X (with custom neck) – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Cobra Darkspeed Volition driver – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
See what GolfWRXers are saying about our Wells Fargo Championship photos in the forums.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
GolfWRX is on site this week in McKinney, Texas, at the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson (FKA the AT&T Byron Nelson).
Last year at TPC Craig Ranch, Jason Day ended a five-year winless streak. J-Day is in the field again, as are Jordan Spieth, Tom Kim, and Will Zalatoris.
We have our usual assortment of general galleries, WITBs, and pullout albums for your perusal. As always, we’ll continue to add links to additional albums as they make their way to us from the Lone Star State.
Check out links to all our photos below.
General Albums
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #1
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #2
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #1
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #2
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #3
WITB Albums
- Pierceson Coody – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Kris Kim – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- David Nyfjall – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Adrien Dumont de Chassart – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Jarred Jetter – North Texas PGA Section Champ – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Richy Werenski – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Wesley Bryan – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Parker Coody – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Peter Kuest – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Blaine Hale, Jr. – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Kelly Kraft – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Rico Hoey – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Pullout Albums
- Adam Scott’s 2 new custom L.A.B. Golf putters – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Scotty Cameron putters – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Ben Griffin playing Maxfli golf ball
See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.
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Ronald Montesano
Jun 8, 2013 at 5:21 pm
Agreed…I suspect they’ll pull out all the stops to let the initial competitors know how important they are to the tournament.
Sean
Jun 7, 2013 at 11:32 pm
Nice to hear about this event. Hopefully more to come.