Northern Ireland Open supported by The R&A welcomes Modest! Golf as Tournament Partner

The Northern Ireland Open supported by The R&A to be played on the European Challenge Tour from September 3-6 at Galgorm Spa & Golf Resort is delighted to welcome Modest! Golf as their ongoing Tournament Partner for this new event.

Modest! Golf has been involved with tournament golf at the Ballymena venue for a number of years and helped the Northern Ireland Open set all attendance records for any event on the Challenge Tour’s international schedule. Modest! Golf are also key partners for the innovative ISPS Handa World Invitational Men | Women introduced in 2019 and will return to Galgorm again in 2021.

The Northern Ireland Open supported by The R&A has a €200,000 prize fund and will be the first of two back to back events on the island of Ireland, with the Irish Challenge following on September 10-13 at a venue to be confirmed. This follows the overall Challenge Tour strategy for the reshaped 2020 season of playing in events in regional clusters where possible. 

The tournament will be supported by The R&A COVID-19 Support Fund, a £7million package to help golf deal with the impact of the global pandemic. The R&A’s Fund is providing an additional £300,000 in support of the Challenge Tour in 2020 on top of its existing annual grant.

The Northern Ireland Open supported by The R&A will be subject to stringent safety and medical protocols set out in the Challenge Tour’s comprehensive Health Strategy and will proceed subject to Government and health guidelines at the time of the event.

“We are delighted to be working with Modest! Golf once more on this exciting new tournament,” explained Gary Henry, Managing Director Galgorm Castle. “We have worked closely with Modest! Golf over the years and we are looking forward to delivering another great event with the Northern Ireland Open supported by The R&A.

“Through key partnerships like Modest! Golf, Galgorm is able to stage two key international tournaments with the Northern Ireland Open and next year’s ISPS Handa World Invitational. Both events will deliver significant economic benefits and drive the tourism economy for the local area and for Northern Ireland.”

Niall Horan, owner of Modest! Golf, said: “This is such a good news story at this time. We are delighted to play our part in delivering the Northern Ireland Open supported by The R&A. None of this would be possible without the vision of the European Challenge Tour and wonderful support from The R&A.

“The Northern Ireland Open will now provide playing opportunities and the chance to compete in what has been a very difficult period for everyone. We know all the players and officials enjoy Galgorm and everything it has to offer and we look forward to the Northern Ireland Open returning there in September.”

Mark McDonnell, Director Modest! Golf, added: “We have a long-standing relationship with Galgorm Spa & Golf Resort and tournament golf there. To see the Northern Ireland Open supported by The R&A return to the international schedule is great news for everyone.

“We look forward to working with everyone to deliver another great event at one of the best venues in Ireland.”