The Northern Ireland Open is a golf tournament formerly played on the
Challenge Tour
The Challenge Tour is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European Tour and, as with on the main European Tour and the European Senior Tour, some of the events are played outside Europe.
History
The ...
. It was played for the first time in June 2010 on the
PGA EuroPro Tour
The PGA EuroPro Tour was a men's developmental professional golf tour. It was created in 2002 by the merger of two development tours, the EuroPro Tour and the PGA MasterCard Tour, as the Professional Golfers' Association and Barry Hearn's Matchr ...
at
Galgorm Castle Golf Club in
Ballymena
Ballymena ( ; from ga, an Baile Meánach , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is part of the Borough of Mid and East Antrim.
The town is built on land given to the Adair family by King Charles I i ...
, Northern Ireland. It now features on the
Clutch Pro Tour schedule.
History
In 2017, the event was changed from 72 holes of stroke play to a "Super 6" style format. The format was similar to that used for the
World Super 6 Perth
The World Super 6 Perth is a golf tournament that was played for the first time in October 2012 as the ISPS Handa Perth International. It is played at Lake Karrinyup Country Club in Perth, Western Australia. It is co-sanctioned by the European T ...
. The main difference was that the 6-hole matches were determined by stroke play rather than match play. It retained the 156-player field, with the cut being made at the top-60 and ties after 36 holes. After 54 holes, the field was cut to a fixed 24. Ties for 24th place were determined by a sudden-death playoff. There were then five six-hole knock-out rounds on the final day. The leading eight after 54 holes received a bye in the first round. The remaining 16 were randomly paired. The six holes used on the final day were 17, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 18. There were a number of other matches for the minor places.
In 2018, the event reverted to 72-hole stroke-play.
The 2020 event returned to the Challenge Tour as the Northern Ireland Open with backing from
The R&A
The R&A is the collective name of a group of companies that together play a significant role within the game of golf. Historically, "the R&A" was a colloquial name for the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews; in 2004, the club spun off ...
.
Winners
See also
*
ISPS Handa World Invitational
The ISPS Handa World Invitational was a professional golf tournament that featured on the European Tour, the Challenge Tour, the LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour.
History
The event was created in 2019 and involved separate events for both ...
Notes
References
{{reflist
External links
NI Open official website
Former Challenge Tour events
Golf tournaments in Northern Ireland
Sport in Ballymena
Recurring sporting events established in 2010
2010 establishments in Northern Ireland