David Howard is living his golfing dream, he’s teeing it up today in one of the biggest tournaments in the world.  Howard earned a place at the Open Championship in Royal Birkdale just two weeks ago, and since then there has been a scramble for tickets as friends and relatives try to make their way to the championship.

The Fota Island member got a late call up to final qualifying at Dundonald Links, and made the most of the opportunity by finishing in 4^th place and claiming a spot in the Championship field.

The 27 year old committed to full time golf three years ago, and has had a number of milestones culminating in his qualification for Royal Birkdale.  He has qualified and played in all of the Irish championships and last year he won the West of Ireland in Co Louth Golf Club.  He followed that with a good performance in Lahinch at the South of Ireland and earned selection for the Irish team at the Home Internationals.

Earlier this year he won the Rosslare Scratch Cup and was runner up at the Lee Valley Scratch Cup.  At Local Qualifying at The Island, he shot two under and ended up as first reserve from that venue which got him a late invite to Final Qualifying.

Howard travelled to Birkdale on Sunday after putting down a busy week in Ireland.  Early in the week he was involved in the Munster team at the Interprovincial Championship at Knightsbrook.  Howard played six rounds over the three days, and he led the Munster challenge with five wins and a half.

He partnered with his clubmate Morgan Cain for each of the three foursomes matches and the pair were unbeaten, finished one match on the 16th and two on the 15th.  Howard followed up with two wins and a half in the singles as Munster captured the title for the first time in eight years.

Team Captain Michael Coote was full of praise for Howard after the leading performance.  “When I first met David Howard, he just came across as a fantastic human being. He’s just a fabulous person and we wish him very well next week at The Open, and I always said the team and Golf Ireland are behind him. I think everyone who knows David Howard and the whole of Ireland are behind him”.

After Knightsbrook, it was off to Tipperary on Saturday as Fota Island were involved in the AIG Barton Shield.  Howard played his part in to wins for Fota on Saturday before turning his attention to this week and heading for Liverpool on Sunday.

Howard becomes the sixth Cork golfer to play at an Open Championship.  The great Jimmy Bruen was the first to appear at what was then known as the British Open.  In 1938 Bruen entered the Open for the first time, qualifying comfortably with rounds of 73 and 76.  In the first round at Royal St George’s Golf Club he shot 70 to jointly lead the tournament but shot 80 on the second day.  At the time 36 holes were played on the final day and the field was restricted to a maximum of 40. Bruen was tied for 43rd and missed the cut.

Bruen returned to the Open a year later when it was held in St Andrew’s.  He shot two rounds of 69 on the Old and New courses to lead the qualifiers by four strokes.  In the Championship itself he had steady rounds of 72-75-75-76 and finished in a tie for 13th place.  Bruen won the Medal as the leading amateur, cementing his place as one of the top amateurs in the world.

European tour Professional Liam Higgins appeared in four Open’s from 1973 to 1978.  Like Howard he played at Royal Birkdale in 1976 and made the cut.  John McHenry was the only other Cork pro to play in the Major, he featured in Muirfield in 1992 missing the cut by one stroke.

Ballydesmond’s Eoghan O’Connell had two Open appearances, including one at Birkdale in 1991.  He made the cut but finished down the field.  He played again in 1993 at Royal St George.

James Sugrue was the most recent Cork golfer to appear at an Open, playing at the historic event at Royal Portrush in 2019.  The Mallow man won the Amaterur Championship in June of that year, and just a month later he was teeing it up with Darren Clarke in the first threeball of the tournament.  Sugrue came close to making the cut, only for a lost ball on the 17^th on the second day to cost him a place for the weekend.