Galgorm Director of Golf Ross Oliver takes us through the projects and course changes to the Castle Championship Course, which has managed to host three international tournaments during the COVID pandemic, the 2020 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, the NI Open supported by the R&A and is home to the ISPS HANDA World Invitational presented by Modest! Golf.
Course Changes Summary 2021
Putting Green
Extended to approximately double the surface area with a variety of contours.
Hole 2
New greenside bunker on left, finished with a sleeper wall. Frames hole very well.
Hole 3
New fairway bunker on corner of the dog leg. Strong visual for tee shot and enhances the strategic challenge.
Hole 4
New greenside bunker greatly enhances the green complex. Also extended green in the front left portion.
Hole 5
Tee boxes extended and finished with sleeper walls. Significant new teeing options and improved general aesthetics of the area.
Hole 6
New greenside bunker has created an intimidating approach shot on this strong par-4.
Hole 7
Tee box complex extended and refurbished to provide different angle at signature par-3 over the water! New greenside bunker added to the rear of the green which frames the hole fantastically.
Hole 8
New bunker with mounding to the right of green which greatly enhances the approach shot.
Hole 10
New bunker at rear of the green, fantastic new backdrop to the approach shot at this wonderful par-5.
Hole 11
Tee box complex redesigned to make River Maine more visible.
Hole 13
Reshaped greenside bunker that wraps around the front-left portion of the green.
Hole 15
Redesigned bunkering around the green. Two previous bunkers right were redesigned into one large bunker. New bunker also added to the front-left.
Hole 16
New championship tee box constructed to add length to an already a strong dogleg par-4
Hole 18
Our signature project in 2021. New fairway bunker on left side of the fairway. Left of the green, a major new water feature was constructed and finished with railway sleepers and mounding to the left. This has created a true risk, reward scenario. We now have a finishing hole to remember.
General
In addition to all the individual projects, we continue to invest in our path network throughout the course, major drainage improvements and significant woodland management to improve playability and the overall experience at Galgorm all year round.