Walsh rides momentum to Porter Cup title
7/21/2018 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff
see also: View results for Porter Cup, Niagara Falls Country Club
Thomas Walsh's game clicked at Niagara Falls Country Club, and it led to his first Porter Cup victory
Walsh took the 36-hole lead at the prestigious amateur event and ran with it. Even as players shuffled beneath him, Walsh remained steady at the top. The High Point, N.C., native put together rounds of 69-65-67-68 for an 11-under 269 total that left him three shots ahead of runners-up Tyler Strafaci, Blake Windred and Ben Schlottman.
Walsh becomes the second University of Virginia player to win this title, joining 2015 champion Denny McCarthy. Walsh also won the individual title at the ACC Championship in the spring. The momentum ebbed between that title and his Players Am run, but Walsh is moving in the right direction again.Great week at players am and fun to be in a position I have never been before shoot 62! Fun to notch my second course record and get some solid momentum heading into the end of the summer
— Thomas Walsh (@thomaswalsh96) July 15, 2018
“I had a good college (season),” Walsh told the Niagara Gazette after the third round. “I took some time off after college, kind of got into some bad habits, but I’ve been really grinding lately. … It turned the corner in the Players Am in the final round and I’ve been kind of feeding off that since.”
Niagara Falls Country Club seemed to be a little bit more forgiving each day. The field averaged just slightly over par in Round 4, at 71.26.
Each of Walsh’s three closest pursuers went bogey-free through the first 15 holes, and each had a bogey in one of the closing three holes. Windred had the best round with 5-under 65, and his included an eagle at the par-4 14th. Strafaci, a rising Georgia Tech junior who missed the cut at the U.S. Open by two shots last month, and Schlottman, the Auburn player who led this championship after a first-round 65, had 66. Schlottman won the North & South Amateur earlier this summer.
Eoin Leonard of Dalkey, Ireland, was solo fifth at 6-under. Australian Shae Wools-Cobb started the day three shots behind Walsh in second but had his highest round of the week on Sunday – a 1-over 71. He ended the tournament at 5 under and part of a four-man tie for sixth that also included Austin Hitt, Kevin O’Connell and Scott Harvey.
Results: Porter Cup
| Place | Player | Location | Pts | Scores |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | High Point, NC | 1200 | 69-65-67-68=269 | |
| T2 | Davie, FL | 900 | 70-67-69-66=272 | |
| T2 | , Australia | 900 | 67-71-69-65=272 | |
| T2 | Advance, NC | 900 | 65-72-69-66=272 | |
| 5 | , Ireland | 700 | 70-68-69-67=274 |
About the Porter Cup
One of the premier amateur events in the nation, this 72-hole stroke play invitational has lots of extra activities that give this event a special flavor. The winning player receives a green blazer, as well as an invitation to the Master of the Amate...
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