Returning champions back for Porter Cup

LEWISTON, N.Y. (WIVB) — The champs are here.

The 65th Porter Cup amateur golf tournament gets underway Wednesday at Niagara Falls Country Club, with both winners from last year’s event in the combined men’s and women’s field: Juan Martin Loureiro from Argentina, and Canadian Sarah Gallagher.

“This is the biggest field we’ve ever had,” tournament director Marty Shimmel said. “We’re pretty happy that we have six of the top 10 finishers from last year back on the men’s side.”

In the field of about 80 men, Loureiro, who last summer chipped in from off the green on the final hole to become the first Argentinian to win the event, will vie to become the first repeat champion since Bob Smith in 1966-67.

Gallagher, a junior a Ball State University, is among 36 players in the 12th women’s tournament, held concurrently with the men since last year. There has been a different winner each year.

In its history, the Porter Cup has hosted 104 golfers who went on to compete on the PGA, LPGA, LIV and Epsom Tours, including 68 major championship winners.

This year’s field includes the sons of two former PGA players: John Daly II, returning from a seventh-place finish last year, Jacob Immelman, the 17-year-old son of former Masters champion Trevor Immelman.

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Jonah Bronstein joined the WIVB squad in 2022 as a digital sports reporter. The Buffalonian has covered the Bills, Sabres, Bandits, Bisons, colleges, high schools and other notable sporting events in Western New York since 2005, for publications including The Associated Press, The Buffalo News, and Niagara Gazette. Read more of his work here .