Tour’s return at Galgorm is hailed as boost for Irish golf
Top stars relishing NI Open mission
FOR most of the players competing at this week’s Northern Ireland Open, supported by the R&A, at Galgorm Castle, they’re just glad to be back in action.
The Challenge Tour hasn’t had an event since July at the Euram Bank Open in Austria due to the coronavirus pandemic, but after a nearly two-month-long gap in the schedule, the first round of the NI Open begins today with a strong field in attendance.
The frustration of having no consistent golf for several months will come to an end when Whitehead’s John Ross Galbraith tees off in the first group at 7.30am, and it is a stern — but fair — test that will await the Challenge Tour’s elite.
The Galgorm course has been watered down slightly, with the players set to use advanced tees to protect the course for the Irish Open later in the month, but will still ask plenty of questions of an international line-up.
From a local perspective, five Northern Ireland players will be in the field, while there are 16 Irishmen competing overall.
Galbraith, in the first group, is followed by amateur Joshua Hill (Galgorm) at 7.50am, Dermot Mcelroy (Ballymena) at 10.05am, Michael Hoey (Galgorm) at 12pm and amateur Tom Mckibbin (Holywood) at 2.20pm.
Ireland’s Paul Mcbride (The Island), who finished runner-up to Mcelroy at the recent Team Ireland event at Portmarnock, believes it is exciting for Irish golf that the Challenge Tour is returning on our shores.
“It’s a course we all know and it’s one that all the Team Ireland lads are getting into, which is great. All the lads that were playing in those tournaments are playing this week, so it’s big for Ireland and for Irish golf in general,” said Mcbride.
“I’ve been playing casually, but Team Ireland set up a few events for us so that kept the competitive game ticking over. You just keep everything going, you don’t want to take a three-week break and come back feeling like you’ve never played.
“It’s all about taking what you’ve been doing in practice out (onto the course) when there’s a card in your hand. That’s the main thing a lot of people will have to adapt to this week.”
Contenders at Galgorm will likely include Richard Mansell (England), who is second in the Race to Mallorca standings, while Sweden’s Oscar Lengden will be aiming to go one step further after losing in a play-off at last year’s Irish Challenge. French duo Gregory Bourdy and Julien Quesne, who have six European Tour titles between them, cannot be discounted either.
South Africa’s Garrick Higgo will also be favoured, the World No.197 coming into the event in form after winning the Sunshine Tour’s season-ending Tour Championship prior to lockdown and then finishing sixth at the Euram Bank Open in July.
“It’s been a month now since Austria so I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a funny year, but we’re just looking forward to playing more often,” said Higgo, fourth in the Race to Mallorca.
“I was going to play the full Challenge Tour schedule, maybe a few main Tour events, but then everything changed. Now hopefully I can finish in one of the top three spots (in the Race to Mallorca) to receive some more events next year.”
Another who will be one to watch is England’s Todd Clements, who ended up third after a thrilling finish at last year’s World Invitational at Galgorm, but he says he’s wary of relying too much on his good recollections of the Co Antrim venue.
“Obviously I have very fond memories of here, finishing third last year and competing, and that changed my season around.
I have fond memories but you can’t live on them, can you? It’s the past,” said Clements.
“My game’s in a different place, it’s a different golf course this year with different conditions, so you have to go through the usual process.”
At the European Tour’s Andalucia Masters at Valderrama, Cormac Sharvin (Ardglass) is off at 10.10am, while Jonathan Caldwell (Clandeboye) gets his first round under way at 2.10pm.
Meanwhile, weather played its part at Roganstown as the Irish PGA Championship was reduced to two rounds after day two was washed out by torrential rain.
Newcastle’s Simon Thornton (Tulfarris), at one under par, will therefore go into the final round today just two shots behind leaders Shane Jenkinson (St Margaret’s) and Colm Moriarty (Glasson) at three under.
‘It’s big for Ireland and Irish golf in general’