Golfer David Howard continues his impressive run of form at the South Of Ireland championship

David Howard continued his impressive run of form with another great performance at the South of Ireland in Lahinch Golf Club.

His week started on Tuesday when Walker Cup Captain Dean Robertson invited him to join the panel for a practice round. 

Howard had been considered an outside contender for the event which takes place in Lahinch in early September, and the Captain publicly stated that the winner of the South would have to be considered for a spot on the team. 

Howard now had a dual incentive to do well in Lahinch.

The Fota Island golfer delivered, he comfortably qualified for the match-play stage and went on the win four matches before eventually losing out in the 17th green in the semi-final.

Although tired from a month of intense golf and travel, Howard started his South campaign in style with five birdies in his opening 14 holes on Wednesday. A single bogey on 16 would see him sign for a 68 which left him inside the top ten from the field of 150.

Thursday was more mixed, two bogies and a double saw him tumble down the leaderboard as many people questioned if the long month of golf was catching up on him.

Going onto the 17th, it looked like making the cut would be a marginal call as scoring was good. Although he was one under, and his second round 75 would have seen him miss out on the countback. As it happened Howard was far from finished, he powered forward with a great birdie on 17, and tapped in for a birdie on 18 to qualify in the middle of the field. He was out at 8am on Friday, facing Keith Egan, and after a tight first none, Howard went ahead on the way home, winning on the 17th.

Just like Thursday, David had a wobble in the middle of his second round against Stephen Loftus from Lahinch. He was three after 10, and despite winning the 12th and 14th, he lost the 15th to be two down with three to play. With some solid golf, and a tough match-play mentality he powered back to win the final three holes and advance on the 18th.

He had an early start on Saturday morning and faced Tralee’s Mark Gazi. Another tight match followed, Howard had a slight edge on the back nine they went to the 18th all square. Another tap in birdie sealed his win and he advanced to the last eight.

In Friday afternoon’s match he faced US based Josh Hill. This time Howard powered through the middle section, winning four consecutive holes from 9 to 12, and closed out the win on the 17th green.

The car park in Lahinch was full of Cork cars at 8am on Saturday. Nobody was waiting to see how he went on the front nine of the semi-final, they travelled early to support their man. Apart from local man Jonathan Keane last year, Lahinch hasn’t seen that crowd on the first tee for a Sunday morning semi-final. The final four was a surprising mix of a German, two Welsh players and a Cork man.

Howard faced Tomi Bowen from Wales and got off to a bright to be two up after seven holes. A tough lie on 8 saw him lose that hole, and a lost ball on 9 meant the match was level after nine holes. Bowen put the pressure on by winning 12 and 13 to go two up, and although Howard won 14, he lost 15 to be two down with three to play. Bowen hit the middle of the green on 16th to guarantee his half, and when he did the same on the 17th, the contest was over and Howard was out.

Although disappointed, David was able to take the positive of impressing the Walker Cup captain, as well as reaching the final four of the South. “It’s been unbelievable I have had some support from everyone it’s unbelievable. The support and the reception on the first tee at the Open. Today the crowd was unbelievable and I’m sure most of them were for me so I can’t thank them enough.” It remains to be seen if Howard will get the call for the Walker Cup this week, the Fota supporters were certain he had done enough, but his semi-final opponent was also in the selection mix. With one spot being left open until after the US Amateur next week, Howard will have a second chance to get back to Lahinch if it’s needed.