The Black Desert NI Open presented by Tom McKibbin returns to the Challenge Tour schedule for the first time in four years, with Galgorm ready to welcome some of golf’s future stars alongside former DP World Tour winners from July 25-28
Galgorm will play host for a ninth time on the Challenge Tour, and a strong field is set to tee it up at the renowned County Antrim venue that hosted the 2020 Irish Open on the DP World Tour.
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen will be one of those to watch. The Dane has been in scintillating form through the first half of the year, recording two wins in the space of three weeks in the Kolkata Challenge and the UAE Challenge to move into pole position at the top of the season-long Road to Mallorca Rankings.
Neergaard-Petersen’s closest challenger is Englishman John Parry, who will also be targeting a third win of the season. Parry sits second in the Rankings after returning to the winner’s circle for the first time in 14 years with victory in the Delhi Challenge in March, before he added a second victory of the season and a fourth career triumph in the Blot Open de Bretagne in France last month.
Both Parry and Neergaard-Petersen look likely to earn graduation by finishing in the top 20 of the Rankings come the end of the season but could gain automatic promotion much sooner with a third win of the season.
Alexander Levy is no stranger to the DP World Tour as a five-time winner, and after narrowly missing out on retaining his card in 2023, is in a strong position to bounce back at the first opportunity. The Frenchman is third in the Rankings after racking up five top ten finishes in 2024 from just 11 starts and could move a step closer to a fast return to golf’s Global Tour with another top ten in Northern Ireland.
Several local stars are also due to challenge, with Irishmen Conor Purcell and Gary Hurley both arriving at Galgorm in good form.
Purcell has three top ten finishes in his last six outings which have catapulted him up to 21st in the Rankings, while Hurley’s solo second place finish in the Challenge de Cádiz last month sees him sit just a few places behind Purcell.
Both will be looking to take advantage of familiar surroundings, as will Jonathan Caldwell who is the leading Northern Irishman on the Road to Mallorca. Caldwell is 72nd in the Rankings but climbed as high as 17th following a fifth-place finish in the NMB Championship in February.
Caldwell returns to his home country hoping to rekindle the form that saw him secure a memorable maiden DP World Tour title at the Volvo Scandinavian Mixed in 2021, where he fired an eight under par final round of 64 to win by one stroke.
Tournament host McKibbin is set to play in the NI Open Pro-am on Tuesday (July 23) and is looking forward to the week. “I played in many Challenge Tour events when starting out in my career and they are hugely competitive with great players from all over the world.
“I’m looking forward to getting back to Galgorm in what promises to be a great week in July,” said McKibbin, who turned professional in 2021 and won his first DP World Tour title at the Porsche European Open in 2023.
Tournament week at Galgorm will also include the Junior NI Open, an exceptional opportunity for budding young golfers to compete on the Championship Castle Course at the same time as the professionals.
Leading Junior golfers who come through the qualifying process at Holywood Golf Club from July 8-9 will play the nine-hole NI Junior Open competition on the Saturday (July 27) of tournament week at Galgorm and tee off approximately 40 minutes after the professionals.
The category winners of the Junior NI Open will return to Galgorm on Sunday where tournament host and DP World Tour winner Tom McKibbin will present the prizes that includes one year’s membership at Galgorm.
The inaugural NI Open was played at Galgorm in 2010 and evolved into one of the most popular events on the Challenge Tour, breaking all attendance records.
This year promises to be just as popular with FREE ENTRY all week and registration for free tickets is available here.
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