LEWISTON — Drew Creighton missed out on an automatic berth in the Porter Cup when he lost

the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship in a playoff. He missed out on a

qualifying berth when he failed to place in the top eight.

But Creighton's long-time ambition of playing in one of the country's premier amateur

events was realized when the MAAC champion withdrew as the tournament neared, prompting

director Steve Denn to offer the Canisius College senior the spot.

"Two weeks ago I went down to check my e-mail. I hadn't checked it in a number of days,"

Creighton said Wednesday. "And I'm thinking, "Why is Mr. Denn e-mailing me?' And I just looked

at it, and obviously I was really pumped."

Creighton was solid in his Porter Cup debut, shooting an even-par 70 that was good for the

low score among local entrants. The Canisius High School graduate was 2 under with two holes

to play but, like so many others over the years, backtracked on the demanding closing stretch

at Niagara Falls Country Club.

"I've done a lot of work to get ready for this," Creighton said. "I came out here for a

couple practice rounds, felt really ready. I was really pleased with how I played [Wednesday].

I was really patient. I gave myself so many good birdie opportunities. I had four lip-outs on

the front for birdie. I could have been four shots better. And the back was kind of a little

of the same. It was a tough way to finish [bogey-bogey] but overall I'm pleased with the

start."

. . .

Who was guarding Grand Island on Wednesday?

"Good question," replied John Edwards, the Grand Island resident who drew a gallery of some

20 to 30 friends and family for his Porter Cup debut.

Edwards, once employed on the grounds crew at NFCC, worked diligently on his game after

recently losing his job. He made the tourney through the qualifier and shot an opening-round

72, second to Creighton among local players.

"I pretty much know the entire course," he said. "I don't have to do a lot of the

nit-picking and walking a lot of the stuff off and trying to guess where I'm going to hit it.

I know the whole course. I know it as good as it gets. Putting it all together is another

thing though."

. . .

China native and University of Florida sophomore Mu Hu got a kick out of his back nine

scoreboard. "Get a load of this," he said at the scorer's table. "All 3s and 5s on the back

nine: 3-5-3-5-3-5-3-5-3." That's two birdies and two bogeys and an even-par 35.

. . .

Lurking four strokes back after opening 68s are Drew Weaver, the Virginia Tech grad who

tied for 40th at the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, and Mike Van Sickle, the Big East Player of

the Year out of Marquette and the son of Sports Illustrated golf writer Gary Van Sickle. ...

The first round was delayed 50 minutes shortly after the first group teed off when fog draped

the course. ... Other local first-round scores: Raman Luthra 73, Jake Katz 74, Jeff Wolniewicz

76, Chris Stoddard 76 and Matt Donahoe 82. Donahoe, who attends Allegheny College, is the son

of former Buffalo Bills President and General Manager Tom Donahoe.