This leafy County Antrim course is set to host the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open for the first time

By Kent Gray
Galgorm Castle Golf Club in Ballymena, Northern Ireland is a long way from Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, USA, but there is a connection created by the coronavirus pandemic. The fourth week in September was set aside for the now postponed Ryder Cup. We’ll have to wait 12 months for the matches in Wisconsin but the consolation prize is news that the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, postponed from May, has now slotted into the September 24-27 vacancy in the global calendar. There will be just €1.25 million prizemoney and therefore no Rolex Series status, no fans and a field unlikely to feature any of the field from the U.S. Open scheduled for Winged Foot the previous week. But given the state of the world, we’re simply grateful one of the European Tour’s premier events will be played in 2020 at all. The County Antrim course will be a slick host too; Galgorm Castle GC has hosted the Northern Ireland Open since 2013 and will get a dress rehearsal for the DDF Irish Open with the Challenge Tour event still a go for September 3-6. The European Tour hope to return to Mount Juliet, the original 2020 DDF Irish Open host venue, in 2021. galgormcastle.com