Galgorm Castle Golf Club

The Galgorm Castle estate has been accumulating history since 1607, when King James I granted the land to Rory Og MacQuillan. A decade later, Sir Faithful Fortescue — nephew of the Lord Deputy of Ireland and a man whose nickname, 'Sir Faithless', tells you something about his methods — built the Jacobean castle that still stands at the heart of the resort. A later owner, the clergyman-landlord Alexander Colville, attracted enough suspicion from local people about the source of his sudden wealth that he was rumoured to have sold his soul to the devil. The castle passed eventually to the Young family in 1850 — Ballymena linen merchants who retained it through the Wyndham Land Act era. One of the family's cousins was Sir Roger Casement, the diplomat, humanitarian, and Irish nationalist who lived at Galgorm Castle during his schooling at Ballymena Academy in the 1880s. He was executed in 1916.

The golf course opened in 1997, designed by Simon Gidman across 220 acres of this estate. Two rivers run through the property: the Maine flows alongside and across several holes; the Braid joins it behind the 14th tee before moving toward Lough Neagh. Five artificial lakes add further drama. A multi-year renovation from 2020 onward transformed several holes — the 9th acquired a lake flowing across the former fairway approach, a boulder wall and wooden footbridge as new features, while the 18th received stadium mounding and a new water feature that created a proper amphitheatre finish.

The tournament record is the strongest of any parkland in Northern Ireland. The 2020 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open came here — the first time a Northern Ireland parkland had hosted the Irish Open in 63 years, with John Catlin winning. The ISPS Handa World Invitational, a tri-sanctioned event running simultaneously on the men's DP World Tour and women's LPGA and LET tours, with equal prize funds of US$1.5m each, has been co-hosted at Galgorm since 2019. Ryan Fox shot a course-record-equalling 62 (nine under par) to win the NI Open here. From the Challenge Tour alone, Galgorm has produced a decade of major-winner development.

The Thermal Spa Village — the first facility of its kind in Ireland — sits at the heart of the resort. The River House yoga studio is built on stilts over the Maine. There are hot tubs with waterfall views, a Celtic sauna, a snow cabin, and an outdoor infinity pool. McKendry's Lounge runs live music seven nights a week. Slemish Mountain, where St Patrick is said to have worked as a slave herdsman in the 5th century, is fifteen minutes away.