In form McNamara targets Irish Girls’ Glory

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Hannah Lee McNamara is set to tee up at the Flogas Irish Girls’ Amateur Open Championship in Corrstown Picture: Thos Caffrey | Golffile.ie

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Less than three weeks on from her impressive runner up finish at the R&A Girls’ U16 Amateur Championship, Royal Portrush golfer Hannah Lee McNamara arrives at the Flogas Irish Girls’ Amateur Open Championship in excellent form, as the Derry native tees up as one of the leading contenders for the crown.

72 of the best young amateur golfers from across Ireland and Europe, including players from the UK, France, Switzerland, Germany, Finland, Austria and Spain will compete across three rounds of stroke play, all with eyes on the coveted title.

McNamara has been steadily building an impressive amateur CV with her victory at the AIG Irish Girls’ Amateur Close Championship in 2024 and her Triple A European Invitational win in Spain earlier this year two stand out individual moments, but it was her second place finish at Gog Magog back in April that has filled the 16-year-old with the most confidence heading into this weekend.

“It’s my last year at under 16, so I really wanted to do well in that one, because this has been my third time playing it. I think I came 20th last year and then this time I came second, so it’s always one that I wanted to do really well in”, said McNamara.

“It’s given me quite a lot of confidence really going into the season. The seasons already really started, but June, July is a bit crazy, so it’s nice to play well competitively already. It’s just giving me a bit of confidence now, especially for the Irish Girls’, I think that’s a big one for me.”

McNamara will have some familiar faces to compete against this weekend as her fellow U16 High Performance Panel teammates Lucy Grattan (Tralee), Zoe McLean-Tattan (Romford), Kayleigh Mulholland (Moyola Park), Niamh O’Grady (Royal Dublin) and Gemma McMeekin (Royal Portrush) will also be in the field.

The Flogas Irish Girls’ Amateur Open Championship has long been a launching pad for many young amateur careers, with the likes of Leona Maguire and Olivia Mehaffey having lifted this trophy in the past and for McNamara, it would be a special moment to add her name to that list of champions.

“Winning the Irish girls would really be amazing”, said McNamara

“I think winning your home championship is just something that’s really cool and it’ll definitely boost my status as a player, and hopefully then go on like Leona and Olivia.”

The Flogas Irish Girls’ Amateur Open Championship tees off on Friday morning with McMeekin and Mulholland getting proceedings underway at 8.30am.

View the first-round tee times here

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