Damien Coyne

Damien Coyne FootGolf

Name
Damien Coyne

Started Playing FootGolf
2018

First Competition
Irish Open 2018

Best Moment in FootGolf
Representing Ireland in the European Championships last year. I got my place on the team by default as other players couldn't travel but sure I'll take it anyway. Was a super experience for me and just made me fall even more in love with this beautiful game.

Worst Moment in FootGolf
My first round in the European Championships. It was a team event and we actually beat Switzerland 7-2 overall in order to become the first Irish FootGolf Team to win a team game at a major event. However it was bittersweet to me as I'll always remember how bad I personally played that round. Didn't enjoy that round whatsoever.

If you could win one tournament in FootGolf (not including the World Cup), what would it be?
This one is easy for me, it would have to be the Irish Open. It's my favourite tournament to play in. Last year I was the highest placed Irish Amateur, in the future I would love to go one better and win the overall highest placed Amateur at the Irish Open.

If you had to pick a team of 4 Irish players, including yourself, who would be the other 3 that you would choose?

  1. Joe Donoghue - My FootGolf Role Model, when I grow up, I want to be like Joe Donoghue.
  2. Gary Mullin - Love playing a round with Gary, and always learn something new from playing a round with him. Very helpful and offers lots of advice on the game. Great leader.
  3. Cian Fitzpatrick - Mr Cool. I find Cians personality and approach to FootGolf to be a very relaxed one. Be good to have him in the team to keep us calm and focused.
Name 4 players in the world that you would love to play a competitive round of FootGolf with and why?
  1. Ben Clarke - FootGolf World number 1 and three time World champion. Says it all really, why wouldn't you want to play a round with the best player in the world right now?
  2. Nico Garcia - When I first started to follow FootGolf professionally last year, Nico was one of the first names on my radar. I like watching him play and I enjoy the content he puts out across his social media channels.
  3. Roberto Ayala - one of the most famous ex professional footballers to take up professional FootGolf. I always played as a defender in football and Roberto Ayala was one of the best defenders in the world. Used to love playing with Valencia in FIFA when I was younger and Ayala was a rock at centre back for me. Love seeing ex professional footballers transition across to the game of FootGolf. It's great exposure for the game.
  4. Ujvari Izabella - Female Freestyle Footballer from Hungary. I enjoy following her content across on Instagram, TikTok etc. She is a good promoter of the game of FootGolf and a great female ambassador for the sport. As Chairperson of FGUI one of my main ambitions is to attract Irish female players to competitive FootGolf.

What Irish female sportswoman would you love to see playing FootGolf?

I would love to see my local GAA player Mikaela McKenna playing a round of FootGolf. Mikaela has a lovely strike of the ball, and has had a very successful GAA career playing for club and county. She even climbed the steps of the Hogan in 2016 to lift the All Ireland Intermediate Ladies Football Championship for Kildare. Fond of soccer too I believe so I would love to see how she would get on in a round of FootGolf.