Paddy meets Paul O’ Flynn

This interview was between myself and Paul O Flynn from RTE. It came about by Paul seen some articles that I did around that time on different radio stations. This was a great achievement in my life. I was so proud to have the opportunity to do this interview. In 2016 I played in the US Blind Golf Open. It was my first time to play away from home. My first ever to compete in a International Blind Golf tournament representing Irish Blind Golf. This was a brilliant experience for me which I really enjoyed my time in the States. The event took place at the Haven Golf Club, Haven, Arizona. Which was organised by U.S. blind golf. This was a 3-day event a practice round and 2 strokeplay rounds. I never played the course before so me and my dad weren’t sure were the holes are positioned. I was so excited on the morning of the 1st round because it was a big competition for me. I could hardly eat my breakfast because I was very nervous. We made our way to the golf course which was a short stroll away from the hotel. To start getting some warm up practice to loosing up the muscles. I would normally start off with a bit of chipping, putting. After that a bit of bunker practice before going to my irons. I would normally finish my warm up by hitting a few drivers. When I came to hit my driver there was a massive shock as on my 2nd drive the shaft snapped. The head of my driver flew out onto the range. I was going mad as it was less than twenty minutes to my tee time. My dad who guides for me rushed to the pro shop. He was to borrow another driver. Despite what happened to my driver I was very happy with my round. I shot a 95 Gross which was good for my handicap. I was lying in the top five after day one. On my second day the pro shop secured another shaft for my driver. I was delighted to be able to use my own driver in the second round. This which helped me massively in shooting a 90 Gross. I was happy with that because it was five shots lower than day one. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough as I lost out by 3 shots. I finished second overall. I was delighted with that finish. As my goal was to finish in the top ten before it started. When we arrived back at Dublin Airport. We were greeted by family and friends along with some journalist from the STAR newspaper. The journalist published an article about the event. As I mentioned above Paul O Flynn the Sports Broadcaster with RTE seen this. He was very interested in seeing how blind golf worked. Paul emailed my mam about doing an interview with me. Which would be shown on the Six One News. When my mam told me that this would happen, I was delighted. We agreed a date and to meet at Elmgreen golf club where I am a member. I really excited about doing this interview. When the day arrived Paul was brilliant with his time. Paul filmed us taking putts and playing the first hole. We finished off with an interview. Elmgreen were also great as they made sure it all went smoothly. Then after that I had an interview explaining how the competition went, how much I love the game. I also was telling him what other tournaments that I had planned for the year. He also interviewed my dad to explain how to guide for someone who is visually impaired. He recorded me playing the first hole at Elmgreen to show how the guide sets me up. Watching how I hit the ball he was very impressed.