Course Overview: Listed as a 7,151 par 70, Galgorm features just 2 par-5s – both on the back 9 – and two short par-4s within the first 4 holes. Greens are excellent quality and annually overseeded with Creeping Bentgrass to help keep them smooth and true. Castlerock is a true links test on the north coast and is new to the Tour, measuring just 6,859 yards for its par of 71.
To give us more of an idea of what to expect in terms of scoring, winners from the Challenge Tour events here have generally been able to compile a winning score of between -11 and -19:
- 2020: Tyler Koivisto, -13
- 2019: Jack Senior, -11
- 2018: Calum Hill, -19
- 2017: Robin Sciot-Siegrist, -6
- 2016: Ryan Fox, -19
- 2015: Clement Sordet, -17
- 2014: Joakim Lagergren, -13
- 2013: Daan Huizing, -13
Robin Sciot-Siegrist’s victory in 2017 was achieved in the hybrid ‘Shootout Sunday’ format, so his -6 winning score should be taken in context.
In terms of DP World-level events, it’s a similar story:
- 2022: Ewen Ferguson, -12
- 2021: Daniel Gavins, -13
- 2020: John Catlin, -10
John Catlin won here at -10 in the 2020 Irish Open, although that was in fairly tough conditions and only 22 players finished under par that week. On this World Invitational format, where Massereene was used for one of the pre-cut rounds for the past two years, 13- and 12-under par has been enough to get over the line.

Tournament Stats. We’ve published some key statistics for this week’s event that will help to shape a view on players who traditionally play well on this course.
As previously noted, Galgorm hosted this event for the past two years, the 2020 Irish Open, plus the Challenge Tour’s Northern Ireland Open from 2013: Current Form | Course Form | First Round Leader Stats | Combined Course Stats.
Predictor Model. Our published Predictor Model is available here. As always you can build your own model using the variables available.
Course Winners. 2022 (ISPS World Invitational): Ewen Ferguson (-12); 2021: Daniel Gavins (-13); 2020 (Irish Open): John Catlin (-10), 40/1; 2020 (ISPS World Invitational): Tyler Koivisto, -13; 2019 (Northern Ireland Open): Jack Senior, -11; 2018: Calum Hill, -19; 2017: Robin Sciot-Siegrist, -6; 2016: Ryan Fox, -19; 2015: Clement Sordet, -17; 2014: Joakim Lagergren, -13; 2013: Daan Huizing, -13.
Weather Forecast. The latest weather forecast for the area is here.
Sunshine and showers is the summary for all 4 days of tournament play, with the potential for those showers to be heavy and thundery which may impact play at times. Friday looks to be the trickiest day with ran arriving in the afternoon, accompanied by a stiff breeze of 15-20mph. The weekend then looks a lot calmer with temperatures nudging towards 70 Fahrenheit.
Tournament Trends & Key Factors. Looking at the winners’ stats over the past 3 years gives us some idea of that kind of skill-sets that this week’s test demands, notwithstanding that the last 2 events had 3 recorded rounds only at Galgorm Castle:
- 2022: Ewen Ferguson, 290 yards (54th), 33.3% fairways (58th), 70.4% greens in regulation (8th), 75.0% scrambling (3rd), 1.59 putts per GIR (2nd).
- 2021: Daniel Gavins, 266 yards (48th), 64.3% fairways (8th), 68.5% greens in regulation (18th), 94.4% scrambling (1st), 1.73 putts per GIR (21st).
- 2020: John Catlin, 279 yards (55th), 62.5% fairways (6th), 72.2% greens in regulation (6th), 80% scrambling (2nd), 1.78 putts per GIR (22nd).
Conditions were quite tricky when Galgorm hosted the 2020 Irish Open and with John Catlin and Aaron Rai battling it out for the win, it’s fair to say that accuracy prevailed over power. The rough was quite tricky in late September and conditions a little colder than we should expect this week, although a tidy all-round game should still go a long way, as it did back then.
Daniel Gavins’ stats in 2021 were remarkably similar to Catlin’s in that accuracy off the tee and scrambling dominated, backed up a solid week from a GIR and putting perspective. Neither men are particularly long from off the tee, which is evident from their in-field rankings above, and that year’s runner-up David Horsey is another who you’d categorise as short, neat and tidy.
In dry conditions last year driving distances were up across the board, however eventual winner Ewen Ferguson still only ranked 54th from off the tee and was able to get away with more errant drives with the rough not as thick. With almost 30% of greens missed by our winner, scrambling was once again key and if anything that’s the one and only truly consistent stat across all 3 events.
Strokes Gained: From a Strokes Gained perspective, we now have stats from all 3 winners to study from rounds at Galgorm Castle only:
- 2022: Ewen Ferguson: T: 19th; A: 5th; T2G: 1st; ATG: 1st; P: 9th
- 2021: Daniel Gavins: T: 10th; A: 25th; T2G: 5th; ATG: 1st; P: 6th
- 2020: John Catlin: T: 23rd; A: 8th; T2G: 4th; ATG: 14th; P: 17th
Key: T: SG Off the Tee; A; SG Approach; T2G: SG Tee to Green; ATG: SG Around the Green; P: SG Putting.
What’s evident is that this is a strong all-round test with none of our three winners ranking any worse than 25th on any metric when winning. SG Tee to Green is the most consistent factor across all three renewals, however with both Daniel Gavins and Ewen Ferguson topping SG Around the Green over the past two years, as per the traditional stats short game looks key.
Incoming Form: The form of last year’s winner Ewen Ferguson had dipped a little following his breakthrough win at the Qatar Masters earlier that spring, however 12th at the previous week’s Cazoo Open hinted at some positive momentum which wasn’t missed by the bookies who priced him at 20/1 accordingly.
The solid-looking incoming form line of Daniel Gavins needs a little qualification as aside from a 42nd place finish at the BMW International Open 4 starts prior, the rest of his results were at Challenge Tour level – hence his 100/1 quote in 2021
John Catlin arrived in sparkling form when Galgorm Castle hosted the Irish Open in 2020, having won the Andalucia Masters on his penultimate start before finishing 8th at Vilamoura.
Of the mixed bag of incoming form from the previous course winners on the Challenge Tour, what is noticeable is that this layout provided an early career breakthrough on 4 occasions. Tyler Koivisto is the most pronounced of the bunch, winning on his debut, but Calum Hill, Clement Sordet and Daan Huizing all had very few starts to their names when proving victorious here:
- 2021 (ISPS): Ewen Ferguson: MC/52/MC/58/37/WD/21/MC/61/MC/30/12
- 2021: Daniel Gavins: MC/7/12/MC/10/26/6/15/42/21/8/9
- 2020 (Irish Open): John Catlin: 2/MC/MC/MC/8/43/51/6/MC/25/1/8
- 2020: (Challenge Tour) Tyler Koivisto: Debut
- 2019: Jack Senior: 58/MC/MC/33/MC/MC/MC/10/34/MC/11/42
- 2018: Calum Hill: 61/47/26/MC/MC
- 2017: Robin Sciot-Siegrist: 15/MC/5/MC/MC/38/MC/8/18/15/44/40
- 2016: Ryan Fox: 4/11/MC/63/63/46/MC/NC/7/2/4/18
- 2015: Clement Sordet: 20/2/MC/26/MC
- 2014: Joakim Lagergren: MC/57/MC/MC/70/19/35/MC/62/38/MC/81
- 2013: Daan Huizing: WD/MC/MC/61/46/2/5/19/4/5/18
Course Form: Despite not telling us much at all, I’ve included the course history of the winners here at Galgorm Castle since it was first used on the Challenge Tour. 7 of the 10 winners were making their competitive debuts around this track, which suggests it’s one that players can get to grips with very quickly, although last year’s winner Ewen Ferguson did have some positive efforts around here to his name:
- 2022: Ewen Ferguson: 7/26/14
- 2021: Daniel Gavins: MC/MC
- 2020: John Catlin: Debut
- 2020: Tyler Koivisto: Debut
- 2019: Jack Senior: 47/60/WD/52/MC/43
- 2018: Calum Hill: Debut
- 2017: Robin Sciot-Siegrist: 42
- 2016: Ryan Fox: Debut
- 2015: Clement Sordet: Debut
- 2014: Joakim Lagergren: Debut
- 2013: Daan Huizing: Debut
The blueprint for success may be a little more apparent now, having seen Galgorm Castle over the past 3 seasons at the Irish Open and at this event over the last 2 years.
Longer hitters seemingly hold little advantage here, with more accurate types largely dominating the finishing positions when the rough has been thicker, as it’s expected to be this year following a wet summer in this part of the world.
Key metrics to pull out of the data to hand are SG Tee to Green and SG Around the Green as well as Scrambling, all of which will hopefully lead us to the winner.
My selections are as follows: