NI Open new format - how it works

The Galgorm Resort & Spa Northern Ireland Open presented by Modest! Golf is always one of the best-attended events of the European Challenge Tour season and this year the crowds will have even more to be excited about with the new Shootout Sunday format.

For the final day at Galgorm Castle, the tournament will become a six-hole match play event, with head-to-head stroke play contests – a groundbreaking new way of deciding a Challenge Tour event.

Here’s everything you need to know about how this week will work:

·<strong>156 players</strong>will tee off on Thursday

·<strong>Rounds One and Two are traditional stroke play</strong>– same as every week

·<strong>Top 60 professionals and ties</strong>make the halfway cut after 36 holes

Here’s where it starts to get different:

·         There will be a<strong>second cut on Saturday</strong>following the third round, with<strong>only the top 24</strong>qualifying for<strong>Shootout Sunday</strong>

·         In the event of players tying, a hole-by-hole play-off on Saturday afternoon will decide the top 24

·         On Saturday evening, there will be a draw for the match play element of the tournament –<strong>the draw will be done by Modest! Golf director Niall Horan</strong>

·<strong>The top eight</strong>from the first three rounds are<strong>automatically seeded into the second round</strong>

·<strong>Shootout Sunday</strong>is a series of<strong>stroke play matches</strong>played over<strong>six holes</strong>

·         These are<strong>head-to-head contests</strong>, with the lowest total score over six holes winning

·         In total on Sunday there will be<strong>five rounds of matches</strong>– players nine to 24 against each other; the Round One winners against the top eight seeds; the eight Round Two winners (quarter-finals); the four Round Three winners (semi-finals); and finally the top two in the final

·         Any matches tied after six holes will proceed to the<strong>shootout hole</strong>for a hole-by-hole play-off to determine the winner

·         The losing quarter-finalists and semi-finalists will also play against each other to determine positions three to eight

·         Finally, after playing potentially more than 30 holes of golf on Sunday, the NI Open winner will be crowned and presented with<strong>the new trophy, </strong>which has been carved from the beech trees at nearby Dark Hedges that were felled during Storm Gertrude