A councillor says Tiger Woods will design a new Northern Ireland links

Tiger Woods and his TGR Design firm have been chosen to design a new championship links at Bellarena on Northern Ireland's north coast, according to a Causeway Coast and Glens councillor quoted by the Derry Journal. Golf Digest picked up the report on Wednesday, Oct. 28, after Golfmagic, Today's Golfer and talkSPORT ran it earlier in the week.

"We received a briefing and it was confirmed to us that Tiger Woods has been signed up to design the course at Bellarena," the councillor said, per the Derry Journal.

That is the reported part. The developer has not confirmed it. A Galgorm Collection spokesperson told the paper the company is "progressing plans for a proposed championship course at Bellarena" and looks forward "to confirming a design appointment in due course." TGR did not respond to Golf Digest's request for comment.

The project itself is on the record. Galgorm Collection, which runs Galgorm Castle in Ballymena and Roe Park Resort in Limavady, unveiled the plan in July 2025, the month Royal Portrush hosted The Open. It calls Bellarena the first championship links built in Northern Ireland in more than 100 years. The company put the course at more than £30 million, which is roughly the $40 million figure in U.S. headlines, and said it would bring its total investment in the north west to about £65 million and add around 300 jobs.

A Proposal of Application Notice was filed in August for an 18-hole links with a clubhouse, driving range, short course, practice areas and eight lodges, according to the Belfast Telegraph. The site sits between Coleraine and Limavady, about 20 miles along the coast from Portrush. The working name is Last Man's Club, after the World War II U.S. Army camp that once stood on the land. Galgorm is targeting a 2029 opening, subject to planning approval.

If it goes through, it would be TGR's first course in Europe. Today's Golfer counts 13 TGR courses so far: eight in the United States, three in Mexico and one each in Vietnam and the Bahamas, a list that includes Payne's Valley in Missouri and Bluejack National in Texas.

What's next: Watch for Galgorm's formal designer announcement and the full planning application. Until Galgorm names its designer, treat Woods's role as reported. If you want a feel for TGR's work before Bellarena exists, Payne's Valley and Bluejack National are where to look.