Lester lands North of Ireland Open
HERMITAGE Golf Club’s Rowan Lester beat compatriot Colin Fairweather by two holes in the final of the North of Ireland Amateur Open at Royal Portrush to win the biggest title of his young career so far.
Having had to settle for the runner-up spot at last year’s South of Ireland tournament, Lester was determined to lift the prize this time despite finding himself two holes adrift of his title match opponent with just seven remaining.
Indeed he demonstrated superb resilience to fight his way back on to level terms by the 15th before continuing on to take the victory.
The win completed a tremendous campaign that saw Lester see off the challenge of last year’s Irish Close champion Alex Gleeson of Castle Golf Club in the semi finals of the tournament.
Prior to that he had beaten Arthur Graeme of Carrickfergus, Tyrone Clare of Royal Portrush and and Ian Geraghty of Laytown/Bettystown in the opening three rounds of matchplay before despatching Galway’s Ronan Mullarney from the quarter finals.
