SPORTING PASSIONS DAVY FITZGERALD ON GOLF:The former Clare hurling goalkeeper and now Waterford manager achieved a lifteime ambition by playing in the South of Ireland, writes Mark Rodden

I STARTED playing golf with a good friend of mine when I was around 15 or 16. I was working for him doing a summer job at a garage in Shannon and he used to bring me to play a game of golf. That started getting me into it, playing about one or two days a week, and I just got to enjoy it and love it.

The first course I played was Dromoland Castle. It was just lovely and I took to it then. I started off with a hurling grip, with right over left, and then after about three or four years I switched around.

A lot of people would have said to me that golf is a boring game and why would I want to play it, but I found that it was quite the opposite. Every hole was different. It was always competitive and you were trying to do your best on every hole.

It was a great leveller like that - when you'd have a bad hole, you have to try and have a good hole on the next one. I'm a competitive person and I just loved that.

The other thing was that it got you away from the hurling, where you were training hard and playing matches in front of thousands of people.

With the golf, you go out on your own and you can relax, hit away and try to get the best score you can. It's very peaceful out there.

My handicap is 0.8 at the moment. The hardest part was getting from about four down but to play off that handicap - I'd need about a month's practice, non-stop.

I don't think I'm the most natural golfer there ever was - I work very hard at getting the ball around the course. There are a lot more gifted golfers than me but mentally I'm not too bad, and I find that's a big help in golf.

I had a good run in the South of Ireland Amateur Open last year when I beat an international in the second round.

Clare were playing Limerick the same day in the hurling. Maybe I felt I should have been playing in that and I just wanted to put up a good performance in the golf.

But I really enjoyed it - one of my golfing ambitions was to play in the South of Ireland and it was nice to get a few rounds under the belt.

If I decided to take a year or two out from the hurling I'd like to play a bit more amateur stuff.

You'd love to go round the circuit and have a go - just take a year out and practise it non-stop.

Ninety per cent of the guys that play are practising non-stop and it's very hard to compete when you're only doing maybe three or four weeks' practice coming into the South of Ireland.

So maybe in a few years' time we'll see what we can do but certainly it's a great leveller for me to get out and get tipping away at it.

Tiger Woods is probably the most mentally strong sportsman I've seen but Pádraig Harrington really is in the same bracket.

I'd love to get the chance to meet him because I admire him so much for what he's achieved. It's fantastic for Ireland and for Irish golf.

The way he played this year in the British Open, I thought he handled it unreal.

As it was going on he was getting stronger the whole time, and that's what you'd have to admire about him.

The reason I like Tiger Woods and Pádraig Harrington so much is not because of their skill or because they're winning tournaments, it's because of their mental strength.

Even when they're playing badly, they still turn around with a good score that can make things happen for them.

In golf you're on your own and there's a lot of pressure. When I play hurling I'm on a team of 15, although standing inside in goals you can't afford to make mistakes. The pressure golfers are under is phenomenal but the way they're able to cope with it is why I admire them so much.

I love playing golf in Dromoland and Lahinch in Clare. Those two courses are absolutely fantastic. My favourite after that would be Mount Juliet in Kilkenny - it's really superb.

My favourite golf to watch would be the Ryder Cup - I absolutely love it. I love the competitive style and we've had some great Ryder Cups, especially involving the Irish guys.

I went up to see it in the K Club two years ago and it was some experience. The atmosphere, the way the Irish crowd was and the way that Europe played - it was just fantastic.