Ballyliffin: Amateur Championship arrives and Donegal club hopes one day it could be The Open

Despite having hosted the Women’s Irish Open as well as Challenge Tour and European Senior Tour events, there was more than a little scepticism around Ballyliffin’s suitability to stage an Irish Open.

In the event, the naysayers were proved utterly wrong as the sun shone on the Inishowen venue in July 2018 and a record European Tour attendance of over 95,000 revelled in the opportunity to watch Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm in action on the Glashedy course.

While the Covid-19 pandemic prevented Ballyliffin from fully exploiting the exposure generated by the Irish Open, the club’s general manager John Farren then pivoted the club’s strategic focus to forming relationships with the R&A.

The 2022 men’s and women’s Home Internationals was Ballyliffin’s first significant collaboration with the game’s governing body having already announced that this year’s Amateur Championship would be played on Ballyliffin’s two courses.

While that’s going to be a big undertaking with 288 players competing in two rounds of stroke play on the Old Course and the Glashedy before the latter course stages the match play action, Farren is confident Ballyliffin will be ready for 10 days of golf which includes a pre-qualifier for the final 10 spots.

“We are bringing in an additional 20-odd greenkeepers because we wouldn’t have the manpower to have two courses ready at 7am in the morning for 10 days in a row,” says the Ballyliffin general manager.