Galgorm Castle to host Challenge Tour event

Golf:The European Challenge Tour will return to Northern Ireland for the first time in 10 years when Galgorm Castle in Ballymena hosts the Northern Ireland Open Challenge from August 29th to September 1st.

Michael Hoey, a four-time winner on The European Tour, will headline the field at the Co Antrim venue, hoping to add to his trophy haul, having also won three times on the Challenge Tour. There will be a €170,000 purse for the event.

Hoey, whose biggest win came at the 2011 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, said: “I am deeply honoured to be the ambassador for the new Challenge Tour event at Galgorm Castle.

“The Challenge Tour was a hugely important part of my early career and has helped me develop into the player I am today. By hosting an event in Northern Ireland, Galgorm Castle Golf Club is contributing to the development of the next generation of Irish golfers and I am delighted to be able to play a part in the tournament.”

Hoey claimed a top 15 finish the last time Northern Ireland hosted a Challenge Tour event in 2003, when Darren Clarke emerged victorious at Clandeboye three weeks after his famous victory at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, while another British Open Champion – the winner at St Andrews in 2010, Louis Oosthuizen -  finished tied 12th.