By Jonathan Brown
SPA Golf Club will host the first ever edition of the NI Creator Classic on Sunday, with TikTok stars, comedians and a former world boxing champion among those taking to the Grove Road course for a golf tournament with a twist.
The NI Creator Classic is the brainchild of TikTok golf content creators Jason Yau (@golfingwithyauzerz), Ryan McCaughan (@ForeFatherRyan), ‘Gavs Golf’ (@golfwithgav21) and Jamie Amos (@BelfastBogeys), who wanted to set up a tournament for Northern Irish social media content creators.
The 100-player tournament will feature some of the biggest names on the local TikTok scene, including uncle and nephew duo ‘Dkleyntv’, who have over one million followers on the popular social media app, and Ruairi McGivern, who has over 360,000 followers.
Comedian Andrew Ryan, former Manchester United player Darron Gibson and world, European and Commonwealth boxing champion Michael Conlan will also take part.
All proceeds from the NI Golf Classic will go towards PIPS Suicide Prevention Ireland and Friends of the Cancer Centre.
This isn’t a regular golf classic, however. Drones will be flying over the top of Spa’s parkland course as creators film content for their social media channels, while Druids Golf Clothing are sponsoring a ‘party hole’ on the eighth, complete with a DJ and a chance to win a Tesla if anyone manages to shoot a hole-in-one.
After seeing posts about the tournament on TikTok, 27-year-old Spa Pro Dale Baker decided to reach out to Jason Yau and offer the club’s parkland course as a host destination.
“I’m quite young for the position I’m in, so I think the majority of golf clubs over here probably didn’t have a clue this was happening.
“I just reached out to Jason and it paid off.
“The amount of scope it’s got online has far surpassed what I would have ever imagined and I’m sure it’s far surpassed what the creators would have imagined as well.
“It’s not something every golf course would have taken on at the time it was announced, but I’m sure now every golf course in the country would want it.”
Downpatrick native Dale, who has completed a degree in Professional Golf Studies at the University of Birmingham, took over from Simon Thornton as Spa’s Golf Professional in June of last year and has been working on increasing the club’s online and social media presence since taking the post.
The former Down High student says the club are delighted to be hosting the inaugural edition of the NI Creator Classic.
“We were taken aback by how much interest it’s got; it’s turning into something we didn’t really anticipate.
“It’s big for the club, because of the amount of free advertising the club is getting from all these creators coming and posting videos, so it’s the best move we could have made.
“And all proceeds from the tournament is going to charity, which is great.”
Tee times on Sunday range from 10am to 2pm, with live entertainment from Joe McVeigh (@joemcveighmusic) in the clubhouse after close of play. Spectators are welcome.
You can find out more about the NI Creator Classic on the event’s TikTok page: https://www.tiktok.com/@ni.creator.classic
