PETER LAWRIE made a formidable mark among the country's aspiring golfers when he captured the Irish Close Championship in delightful sunshine at Royal Co Down yesterday. Victory in an absorbing final of this event, sponsored by the Bank of Ireland, was achieved by 3 and 2 over Garth McGimpsey, a player respected as "The Legend" by Lawrie and his ilk.

At 22 and standing 6ft, the UCD commerce student could be described as the young thin man of Irish golf. He is also a player of remarkable composure and competitive strength. Indeed, the only time he was taken to the 18th in his six matches here was in the opening round against Frank O'Donoghue of Belvoir Park.

"To win on a course like this is very special, but to beat Garth in the final makes it a wonderful experience," he said. "Obviously I respected him greatly, but there was no way I was overawed by his presence. I simply found him to be a sporting opponent."

For his part, McGimpsey sensed he was facing one challenge too many when his putting came under severe pressure. "The putter went cold on me - I have no excuses, he said after the match ended at the 265-yard 16th, where he failed to better Lawrie's par four.

Lawrie's progress to the decider was fairly predictable, though Ulsterman David Gibson maintained an impressive showing by taking his opponent to the 17th in the morning's semi-finals. From a competitive standpoint, however Lawrie always appeared to have the edge in a seemingly tight match.

This was exemplified by their play of the crucial 16th, where they were both through the green. Lawrie pitched to 10 feet and Gibson to eight, but when the Newlands player holed for a three, his opponent failed to follow him home. A winning lead had been secured.

The other semi-final was a much closer affair, even though McGimpsey swept into a four-hole lead on Keith Nolan after eight. The Bray international responded by covering the stretch from the ninth to the 16th in four-under-par to be one up at that stage.

But he squandered the advantage by bunkering his second shot at the 17th, to lose the hole to a par. And he was in further trouble down the long 18th, when he blocked a drive into the right rough, and was still in the rough after a seven-iron second shot.

Eventually, Nolan needed to get up and down from off the back right of the green to have any chance of saving the match.

In the event it didn't matter. Taking the rather curious decision of using the putter from 10 yards short of the elevated green, McGimpsey left it 18 feet short of the pin and then shocked us all by holing it for a birdie four.

In the final, Lawrie pulled his drive into trouble to lose the second hole: it was the only time he would be behind in the match. He squared with a birdie at the next, and went ahead for the first time when he hit a splendid eight-iron to four feet for what proved to be a conceded birdie at the 145-yard seventh.

This was a particularly interesting hole, as McGimpsey was short of the target with a return putt of only five feet. Lawrie, on the other hand, invariably exuded confidence with the blade - compensating for several sins between tee and green, especially with his approach irons.

As the match progressed, McGimpsey's torment became more acute. After they had turned level, he should have won the short 10th, where Lawrie missed the green, short left. But the 41-year-old three-putted, missing from four feet. And he failed to get up and down from off the back of the 11th where Lawrie went ahead once more.

Still, the Dubliner had yet to achieve the decisive breakthrough. Indeed a pulled drive, high into the face of a cavernous bunker at the long 12th, effectively cost him the hole. But salvation was at hand: the 445-yard 43th proved to be the most critical hole of the match.

Both players hit a one-iron off the tee, but McGimpsey, who is renowned for his expertise with this club, finished a good 25 yards past his opponent, in the middle of the fairway. First to hit, Lawrie barely had enough to reach the front of the green with a six-iron, but McGimpsey then proceeded to hit an uncharacteristically poor seven-iron which he blocked right of the target.

Given the severely undulating nature of this green, McGimpsey had no chance of getting his pitch close to the flag. Lawrie, meanwhile, had to play a 12-foot, left to right break, to get his 75-foot putt within four feet of the cup. When his par putt went down, one could sense the lights dimming on McGimpsey's hopes.

That feeling was strengthened at the short 14th, which Lawrie two-putted for a par from 10 feet McGimpsey three-putted from off the left edge. And a par was also sufficient to leave the Dubliner three up at the next, where his opponent was hunkered in two.

When it was all over, Lawrie's mother, father and brother Ian were among the first to congratulate him in emotional scenes Yet on the walk back to the clubhouse, the new champion still retained the composure to work out that he had edged McGimpsey out of the Willie Gill award as the most consistent player of the season.

Next Monday, he heads for Sweden in the six-member GUI challenge for the European Individual Championship. And he is certain to lead Ireland in the Home Internationals at Moray next month. "I would like to show the Walker Cup selectors that I'm a half-decent player," he said. I suspect the point has already been made.