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Golf mad - to Coyne a phrase
22.06.07
When Tom Coyne arrived
in Inishowen earlier this week he didn't stand out
as anything other than a fairly typical golf
tourist. But there was one significant difference.
The 32-year old American author was here as part of
his quest to play every single links course in
Ireland - in other words "the world's greatest round
of golf". His experiences North and South, will form
the material for his third book 'A Course Called
Ireland', due out next year. |
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His challenge - and he
is now two months into his four-month schedule -
will see him play 700 holes and walk two million
yards - and that's just on the fairways. He is also
going from town to town on foot and has lost just
over a stone in weight since he began his adventure
on April 27th. InishowenNews.com caught up with him
as he embarked on his 18-hole |
round at Greencastle
Golf Club. That was at around 4pm on Wednesday and
he had already walked all the way from Carndonagh.
"It's been great in Donegal. People are really nice
and they've been showing me a lot of hospitality,"
he said. "I played the North West Golf Club in
Lisfannon, the 9-holes at Buncrana Golf Club, the
two courses in Ballyliffin and now Greencastle. I've
been treated very well. These golf courses are a
great asset to the area." Tom, who is married to
Alison, also claims to have had "his best pint of
Guinness in Ireland so far" in the Cottage Bar in
Buncrana while enjoying a comfortable stay at the
"beautiful" Caldra House B&B in the town.
He started his round-Ireland golfing quest in
Shannon, Co. Clare, on April 27th and will end, all
going to schedule, on August 27th. "I'll have played
more than 40 links courses in Ireland by the end. To
keep me company I have family and friends coming
over from the States on different weeks," he said,
with his brother-in-law in tow for the Inishowen leg
of the tour.
The author of 'A Gentleman's Game' and 'Paper
Tiger', he is a university lecturer in creative
writing and is a self-confessed golf addict -
playing off 14. He undertook his latest adventure to
learn more about Ireland - the ancestral home of
both his parents. "I thought 'what a great way to
learn more about the country'," he said.
As he prepared to board the Lough Foyle ferry as a
foot passenger on his way to play Castlerock, he
said he didn't really worry about losing any more
than the 15lbs in weight he had already shed. "Those
Irish breakfasts put it right back on ya," he
laughed. |
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