Porter Cup: Carson Bacha picks up another major title

July 16, 2022 | by Rick Woelfel of AmateurGolf.com

- Paul Battson / Niagara Gazette photo

The Dogwood champ went from almost winning to almost losing on the 18th green, but hung on for a playoff win over Garrett Engle

Patience is most often a virtue in golf, as it is in other walks of life. It was most certainly was for Carson Bacha Saturday afternoon.

Bacha, a York, Pa. native and a redshirt sophomore to be at Auburn, emerged as the champion of the 63rd Porter Cup over Garrett Engle (Harrisburg, Pa.) with a par on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff after the pair finished the regulation 72 holes at Niagara Falls Country Club at 6- under par 274.

Bacha finished with a 2-under par 68 while Engle signed for an even-par 70.

It’s Bacha’s second significant win of the summer; he won the Dogwood Invitational last month. “I put The Porter Cup and the Dogwood) at the top of the list for the best two wins I’ve had,” he said.

Related: War (Double) Eagle: Carson Bacha wins Dogwood Invitational

Bacha and Engle emerged from a four-way scramble down the stretch. Dillon Stewart (Fort Collins, Col./Oklahoma State) finished alone in third place at 275 after a closing 67. Jack Boulger (Walpole, Mass./Southern California), finished with a 67 of his own to wind up at 276.

Matthew Anderson (Mississauga, Ontario) was at 277. Jared Edwards (Auckland, New Zealand), Connor Fewkes (Kalgoorlie, Western Australia), Nathan Han (Somers, N.Y.), Garrett Rank (Waterloo, Ontario, and William Duquette (Laval, Quebec) were all at 278.

Bacha said the key to his win was staying patient and making good on-course decisions, something he admits he wasn’t doing earlier in the week.

“I just wasn’t putting the ball in the right places,” he said, “so my goal out there today was to think my way around the course a lot better, be more patient.

“I felt like I did a great job with that; today I had the most good looks at birdie, I hit a lot of really good putts. My mom (Kerri) who was on the bag, did a great job of keeping me level-headed and saying ‘Your time will come. Just keep giving yourself chances.' I felt like I did a great job staying patient.”

Bacha started the final round two shots behind Engle, who will transfer to transfer to UT-Chattanooga this fall after spending his freshman season on the roster at Oklahoma although he did not compete in any tournaments.

Stewart and Shubham Jaglan (Tampa, Fla./University of South Florida) were two shots behind Bacha, whose opening nine featured a single birdie at the par-5 third; he added a birdie at the par-4 10th to move to six under par for the tournament.

Engle played his first nine holes in 1-over par 36 with two bogeys and a birdie.

Meantime, Stewart, who played with Bacha and Engle in the final threesome, was making a charge; he birdied three of his first six holes and made the turn in 3-under par 32, then birdied the par-4 10th and par-5 11th to take the lead alone at seven under par before making bogey at the par-3 16th.

Boulger was not to be counted out either after going out in 32. He added birdies at the par-4 14th and the 16th. At that point, Bacha, Engle, Stewart, and Boulger were all tied for the lead with two holes remaining.

Stewart fell out of the chase when bogeyed the 17th while Boulger bogeyed 17 and 18.

Bacha took the lead for the last time in regulation with a birdie at the par-4 17th.

“I had 137 in the left center of the fairway,” he said. “The shot was into the wind and a little uphill. I hot a nine-iron that came out perfect. I flighted it down, hit it straight at the pin, and it landed about three feet short. That was a really special shot. It was a great takeaway from this tournament.”

Bacha stumbled at the par-3 18th when his six-foot par putt, that would have given him the win outright, ran eight feet past the hole.

“I had a six-footer to win,” he said, that was an extremely tough putt, a downhill left-to-right slider and extremely fast. I hit an okay putt but it broke on me really hard. I went from having a six-footer to win to having an eight-footer to get into a playoff.”

The playoff essentially concluded at the 18th tee when Bacha, who had the honor, hit a five-iron to 15 feet at the 200-yard par three. Engle followed and hit his tee shot out of bounds.

“It was unfortunate he hit the shot he hit,” Bacha said, “but he had pressure on him after I hit that shot right on front of him.”

Results: Porter Cup

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Carson Bacha	York, PA	700	70-66-70-68=274
2	Garrett Engle	Harrisburg, PA	500	73-67-64-70=274
3	Dillon Stewart	Fort Collins, CO	400	73-67-68-67=275
4	Jack Boulger	Walpole, MA	400	68-73-68-67=276
5	Matthew Anderson	, Canada	400	72-73-68-64=277

View full results for Porter Cup

About the Porter Cup

Porter Cup: Carson Bacha picks up another major title

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...