Northern Ireland returns to the Challenge Tour schedule for the first time in four years for the Black Desert NI Open presented by Tom McKibbin, taking place at Galgorm. Here’s everything you need to know…
Galgorm: A true test
Situated just 30 minutes from Northern Ireland’s capital city of Belfast, Galgorm is one of the premier tournament venues in the country. This year sees the Challenge Tour return for an eighth time, with the course having also hosted the ISPS HANDA World Invitational on four occasions, and the DP World Tour’s Irish Open in 2020.
Designed by Simon Gidman and opened in 1997, the par-72 championship Castle Course measures 7,276 yards, with the rivers Maine and Braid coming into play on several holes.
Building on history
The NI Open is back on the Challenge Tour schedule, with Galgorm the setting once more for an event rich in history. In the seven different iterations of the event played on the Challenge Tour to date, it has produced plenty of grandstand finishes in front of huge support in Co. Antrim.
Dutchman Daan Huizing won on the first playoff hole in the inaugural contest in 2013 to set the tone for what has followed. Swede Joakim Lagergren holed a clutch eight-foot putt on the final hole to win in 2014, and 12 months later it was Frenchman Clément Sordet who claimed a narrow one-stroke victory.
In 2016, now four-time DP World Tour winner, Ryan Fox, posted a sensational ten under par final round 62 to cruise to a four-stroke victory. 2017 saw Frenchman Robin Sciot-Siegrist reign supreme on ‘Shootout Sunday’, and four birdies in his closing five holes saw Calum Hill earn a come-from-behind win in 2018. The latest to add their name to the trophy was American Tyler Koivisto, who completed a remarkable victory in 2020 in his first Official World Golf Ranking-recognised event.
Partnering up
World renowned PGA Tour venue, Black Desert, was announced as the title sponsor of the event earlier this year, with Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin also adding his full support to the showcase in Co. Antrim.
McKibbin knows all about the Challenge Tour having graduated in 2022 before going on to win on the DP World Tour in his first full season. He currently sits tenth in the Race to Dubai Rankings as he targets one of the ten PGA TOUR cards available, and will tee it up in the Pro-Am on Tuesday.
Strength of the field
As the Road to Mallorca officially enters the second half of the season, a strong closing stretch could see any of the field this week bolster their chances of promotion to the DP World Tour.
With that in mind, a strong field is set to tee it up in Northern Ireland this week, looking to either consolidate their place in the top 20 in the season-long Rankings, or catapult themselves into promotion contention.
Each of the top five in the Rankings are set to tee it up in Northern Ireland, with Number One Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Number Two John Parry and Number Three Joel Moscatel all two-time winners this season, and now one win away from automatic promotion.
Former NI Open winner Robin Sciot-Siegrist is another to keep an eye on, as is local favourite Dermot McElroy who won this event two years ago when it was on the Clutch Pro Tour.
Englishman Sam Hutsby and Scotsman Jack McDonald will also be hoping to impress, with both coming straight from Royal Troon having made their Open debuts last week.
