David Howard is aiming to cap off his breakthrough year with another top performance as the Fota Island golfer targets a second championship crown of 2025 at the North of Ireland Men’s Amateur Open Championship, which returns to Portstewart this week for the first time since 2019.
The world-renowned Strand Course will welcome 120 competitors from across Ireland, the UK and Europe, with play beginning on Wednesday morning.
The field is set to face 36 holes across the opening two days before the top 36 plus ties advance to Friday’s final rounds.
Having committed himself full-time to golf in the past couple of years, Howard has reaped the benefits of a more dedicated schedule, most notably this season when the 26-year-old was crowned East of Ireland champion at County Louth in June, achieving a major goal he had set himself at the start of the year.
“It’s been one of my goals to get a championship this year, and anything from there was a bonus and to get international call-ups, I’m really happy with the year. Just trying to keep pushing on from there instead of just staying at this point, keep pushing on and see what comes of it,” said Howard.
“It’s still kind of surreal. I got a picture from Gerard Dunne (County Louth) recently showing my name on the board and it’s just class to see my name there in the history books. Feels pretty surreal.”
Howard’s victory at Baltray, a top-10 finish at the Flogas Irish Men’s Amateur Open and a run to the quarter-finals of the South of Ireland helped secure two international caps this year as he represented Ireland at the Home Internationals in August before contributing to the bronze medal-winning effort at the European Mid-Amateur Team Championships in Spain just last week.
“The whole experience of being with the team and being over in that setting and at that high level against other nations, it was class,” said Howard.
“I have to thank Golf Ireland for the opportunities over the last few weeks and Fota Island for all the support they have been giving me.”
The Cork native will be one of the top contenders in the field, alongside fellow title winners this season, including West of Ireland champion Dylan Holmes (Greystones), South of Ireland winner Johnathan Keane (Lahinch).
Howard begins his campaign at 8.47am on Wednesday alongside James O’Rourke (Naas) and Eoin Sullivan (Portmarnock).
While a second title would be a dream outcome, and a chance to add his name to an exclusive list of players to win both the East and the North, he is keeping expectations grounded.
“Maybe a top ten would be solid, obviously going out and trying to win, but I think if you came top ten would be happy enough with how busy it has been lately,” said Howard, “That would be solid, and we will see what happens from there, just take it day by day, shot by shot, and we will see how it all plays out.”
The North of Ireland Men’s Amateur Open Championship tees off at 7.30am on Wednesday as Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk), Eanna Mulhare (Birr) and Patrick Burke (Foxrock) get proceedings underway.
