Golf clubs in Northern Ireland get £4.2 million in Covid support

Golf clubs in Northern Ireland have been handed more than £4 million in support from Sport NI through a fund aimed at helping sport in the Covid-19 world.

Royal County Down, where the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Hosted by the Rory Foundation was held in 2015, has received the biggest golf allocation from Sport NI's Sports Sustainability Fund. Picture: Andrew Redington/Getty Images.

In total, 26 golf clubs have been allocated funding from a £4.2 million pot made available to the game through Sport NI’s Sports Sustainability Fund.

The biggest chunk - a whopping £1,562,452 - has been handed to Royal County Down, where the Irish Open was hosted in 2015 and both Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson played in the 2007 Walker Cup,

Royal Portrush, where Shane Lowry won The Open in 2019, is getting £757,638 from the fund as part of a fresh £10.5 allocation that takes the total investment through this specific fund to £22.4m.

Holywood, Rory McIlroy’s home club, has been allocated £267,287 while Portstewart, scene of Russell Knox’s Irish Open success in 2018, is getting £154,957.

Other sports to receive funding are gaelic games, rugby union, cricket, hockey, sailing and angling.

The Sport NI Sports Sustainability Fund, launched in December, is designed to support bodies and clubs who have been impacted by the ongoing pandemic.

It was set up to help support sport to emerge from Covid-19, with Sport NI working to create a pathway for a return to sport.

Antoinette McKeown, Sport NI CEO, said: "The value of sport is never more important for us all as a society, as we tentatively emerge from Covid-19.

"The sports sector has played an invaluable role in supporting our communities through this pandemic, and this funding is critical to sustain and empower the survival of governing bodies and clubs to get us all back to sport.”

A message from the Editor:

Get a year of unlimited access to all of The Scotsman's sport coverage without the need for a full subscription. Expert analysis, exclusive interviews, live blogs, and 70 per cent fewer ads on Scotsman.com - all for less than £1 a week. Subscribe to us today https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions/sports