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Raise Your Game: How did it all start for you?

Christy O'Connor Jnr: I was about five-years-old when I started playing. Golf was the only thing that everyone did in our village so we all got involved.

From the very beginning it was all I wanted to do. My uncle Christy O' Connor was a leading Irish golfer and he played in the Ryder Cup. I would watch him on the television and listened to the radio and I thought to myself that one day I wanted to be a professional golfer too.

RYG: What qualities do you need as a golfer?

CC: Concentration is massive. You've got to be able to look around you and stay focused. The key is not to think about the shot that you've already played, it's gone. The next shot is the most important shot of your life and that's what you should be concentrating on.

RYG: You've designed over 30 golf courses throughout Ireland and Europe. Not everybody can play golf, but for young people who have a creative flair and an artistic talent, how can they get into golf design?

CC: Get a job as a green keeper or a green keeper's assistant. Learn about the grasses, learn about slopes and how not to make them too difficult and build your knowledge up from there. Walk the golf courses, see the good holes and pick them out. That's a great way to start.

RYG: What has golf given you?

CC: Everything. To have played around the world and to have won the Ryder Cup for Europe was huge for me. I was made a doctorate and a freeman of my own city. That's what makes the game worth all the practise.