Former NVC star golfer Charles Porter in the field at this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
By MARTY JAMES
martyjames.sports@gmail.com
NAPA - Charles Porter has a lot of support heading into his first PGA Tour event, the 2023 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, on the Monterey Peninsula.
Porter has the support of Bob Freschi, his coach during the 2020 season at Napa Valley College.
"Really proud of him and excited for him," Freschi said Wednesday. "He said he wants to go pro, and he's a pro golfer."
Porter has the support of the Northern California Golf Association.
The NCGA said on Twitter, @ncga1901: "We'll be rooting for former Youth on Course member Charles Porter at the AT&T Pro-Am; the SF native is easy to spot as well (he's 6-foot-7); Enjoy Charles!" Porter also has the support of Youth on Course, which on Twitter, @yocgolf, said: "Congrats, Charles. The YOC community will be cheering for you."
Porter, a former star golfer as a freshman for Napa Valley College, is in the field at this week's 2023 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on a sponsor exemption. It's the 14th of 44 FedExCup Regular Season events and starts Thursday, Feb. 2. The PGA Tour event, which has a $9 million purse, is played at Pebble Beach Golf Links, the host course, Spyglass Hill Golf Course and Monterey Peninsula Country Club's Shore Course.
There are 156 professionals, including Porter, in the tournament, which has a 54-hole cut to the low 60s and ties. The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, part of the California swing, continues on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The winner earns $1.62 million and 500 FedExCup points.
"For my entire life, I have obsessively watched the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and have dreamed of earning my way into the field," Porter said in a story in the Martinez News-Gazette, at martinezgazette.com, on Jan. 31. "Last year, I was fortunate enough to be a spotter from Wednesday through Friday on the 18th hole at Pebble Beach. Being that close to the action was both exhilarating and inspiring to one day compete in the event."
Porter won the San Francisco City Golf Championship in 2020, beating Domingo Jojola, 7 and 5, in the finals at TPC Harding Park. It's one of the most prestigious amateur events in Northern California golf. The match ended on the par-4, 405-yard 13th hole when Porter won the hole with a birdie.
"He's got a nice future and hope he takes advantage of playing in the AT&T," Freschi said during a practice for the NVC men's team at Chardonnay Golf Club & Vineyards in American Canyon. "Just real special, real exciting."
With Porter in the lineup, NVC had one of its top teams in 2020, with the Storm turning in solid finishes throughout the season. The California Community College Athletic Association, the governing body for intercollegiate athletics in the state, announced on March 19, 2020 that its Board of Directors voted unanimously to cancel the remainder of the 2020 spring sports season due to concerns over COVID-19. Napa Valley was in second place in the Big 8 Conference, just two points behind Folsom Lake, when the season ended.
"Back in 2020, when he played here, we had a really solid team. Unfortunately, that was a season that got cut short, due to COVID," said Freschi. "But the fall and early spring, he was a joy to watch and he just hit the ball pure. He struck the ball well and had good hands. He's got a real great mindset of being in his own game, in his own head. A joy to watch.
"He is young, so it will take time and what a great experience for him. He's just going to build off this for his career."
Porter, 23, a resident of San Francisco, has Korn Ferry Tour status as an Additional Qualifying Tournament Finalist (through 2023). He turned pro in 2021.
Porter advanced from First Stage to Second Stage and then to Final Stage at the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament, which determines membership and Priority Ranking for the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour. He tied for 13th in the First Stage of qualifying, Sept. 13-16, at Rockwall Golf & Athletic Club, in Rockwall, TX. He tied for 13th in Second Stage of qualifying, Oct. 18-21, at Bear Creek Golf Club, in Murrieta, CA.
He finished in a tie for 95th place at the Final Stage, Nov. 4-7, at The Landings Club's Marshwood Course and Magnolia Course, in Savannah, Georgia.
He is a 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Q School graduate and joined the Korn Ferry Tour this year.
"Not every sponsor exemption will change someone's life," Steve John, CEO of the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, said in a story in the Martinez News-Gazette, at martinezgazette.com, on Jan. 31. "But in the case of Charles Porter, it has just that potential. This is a young man who in 2021, his first professional season when competing with no financial sponsor, had to work three jobs while taking care of his ailing father. Charles stands for everything this tournament is about and is beyond deserving of a sponsor exemption."
Porter was awarded a sponsor exemption. He got his start in golf as a member of First Tee – San Francisco and Youth on Course.
According to its website, firstteesanfrancisco.org:
"Now, for over two decades we've been committed to helping kids build character strengths and important life skills through the game and providing all kids with access to opportunities for personal growth in a fun and safe environment. While we began on golf courses, we expanded by bringing our program to physical education classes across the country through our in-school and after-school programs."
According to its website, youthoncourse.org:
"Helping young people is at the very heart of what we do—our reason for being. Their lives are bettered through their individual growth on the course and the connections they forge along the way.
"The players' stories are what fuel us, inspire us and drive us to do more. Everything we do underscores our efforts to shape the lives of young people in a meaningful way.
"While it all starts with giving our members access to golf for $5 or less at nearly 2,000 participating courses, it definitely doesn't end there.
"We want the future of golf to be inviting, inclusive and, most importantly, accessible to all young people who will become the next generation of lifelong players and lovers of the game."
Porter is a 2018 graduate of Gateway High School-San Francisco.
(Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, 2019 after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association. He was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2016, the Vintage High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019, and the Napa High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022.)