Known as the “Black Pearl of Inchicore Mark III” as he followed in the footsteps of Paul McGrath and Curtis Fleming, Paul Osam will be remembered as one of the most outstanding St Patrick’s Athletic players of all time. Winner of five league titles, he’s now head coach of the Republic of Ireland’s Under 16 team. He’s also a keen golfer, looking to solve the mysteries of the short game.

1. How’s your golf? I enjoy it so much, I even go and play on my own. After having a heart attack a few years ago, it’s great just to be able to walk around the golf course and have no problem with that psychologically. I’m not brilliant, but I get a great kick out of it, and I think it’s great socially as well. I play with my son Evan and a couple of my pals and it’s really enjoyable.

2. How did you get started in the game? I played a little bit of pitch and putt up when I was young. Then St Pat’s started to organise fundraising golf classics, and I began to play in those. I was a bit of a nomad at first, but eventually, I started to look at clubs with my son Evan, who is 23 now, so we joined Moyvalley. I just liked the people there. I looked at a few other clubs, but Moyvalley just seemed the best fit for me.

3. Choose your weapon… Driver or putter? And why? I’d have to say the driver. I can hit the ball quite well, and that’s probably the strongest part of my game, but I am very, very poor from 60 yards in. Chipping around the greens is an absolute no-no for me. If I got that sorted, I’d be playing off single figures. I leave so many shots around the greens. I’d rather be in a bunker than on the edge of the green. I kind of have it in my head now that I can’t do it.

4. Links or parkland? Parkland all day long for me because of the wind. I have a very high ball flight, and that’s a problem on the links course. I also play better off parkland fairways than a tight links lie. That said, I played the Old Course and the Cashen at Ballybunion last week and then Tralee and Tralee was just unbelievable. What a golf course and what scenery.

5. When were you happiest on the golf course? I played the North Course at Quinta do Lago with the Quarry Golf Society and the weather was just balmy, the course was beautiful and I had a really good score. That was a memorable day.

6. Who’s your sporting hero? I didn’t follow a football club growing up, but I’d have to say the Roy Keane was probably the player I liked the most. I always admired his determination and his will to win — his drive and heart. He was probably one of the best passers of the ball over short distances that I’ve ever seen. He made it look so simple.

7. Name an opponent or rival you especially admired and why. Derry City’s Liam Coyle was an absolutely magnificent footballer. I remember one time coming in close contact with him and just bouncing off him and thinking, what’s going on here.

Liam was untouchable. In the years I played, I never came across anybody like him. He had a silky touch, and his vision and awareness were second to none. He was never flustered. He was poetic. The complete player for me. Had it not been for injuries, he’d have won far more than one cap for Northern Ireland.

8. What’s your golfing ambition? I’d love to break 80 and get down to single figures. My best round is an 83 around Moyvalley, but that probably included five or six duffed chips. So I have to do one or two things, either not leave myself those short shots or improve my short game.

9. Name your dream fourball. Morgan Freeman because I love him as an actor, Roy Keane because he’d be so competitive, and Pat Dolan for the entertainment value. I remember playing with him in CityWest one time, and he carved his drive into the trees. He hit a provisional and said, I’ll just have a look for that first one. And from the forest, this voice piped up, “I’ve found it!” I’d say there was one square yard of grass in those trees, and his ball was sitting up like a coconut (laughs). Pat would be great fun.

10. If you could change something about the modern game, what would it be? I’d get rid of VAR. I think it’s destroying the game. Is it a goal? Is it not a goal? I understand the logic behind it, but I think it’s ruining the game a little bit, and I don’t think there are too many supporters of it. I just think soccer is a sport where there’s going to be human error, and you have to allow for a little bit of that.

Saying a guy’s toenail is offside is just ridiculous. I think it’s just gone too pernickety, really.

11. If I gave you a mulligan in your football career, what would it be? I lost two FAI cup finals. But the one that hurt was 1996 when Shels beat us after a replay. In the first match at Lansdowne Road, they had their keeper sent off, and they had to put an outfield player in goal. We were never going to have a better opportunity, but while we went ahead, Tony Sheridan scored one of the best goals I have witnessed in a game of that magnitude. If I could have a mulligan, it would be that day in the Aviva. The Cup was the only trophy I never won in the domestic game, so it’s a bit of a sore spot for me.

12. If you had just one more round to play, where would it be? I’d have to say Tralee Golf Club. I’ve never witnessed anything like it. I’d drive up and down every day just to play it. It’s just out of this world.

13. What’s your favourite par three? Again I have to go with Tralee. The par-three 13th over the chasm is fantastic. A friend of mine, Ken Smith, had a hole in one the other day. There’s very little margin for error, so it’s just a magnificent hole.

14. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? My short game and chipping (laughs).

15. What’s your most treasured possession? I’m not materialistic, and I have no idea where my league medals are. But I have some pictures here of me and my dad Evans and my son, Evan. I treasure those.

16. If you could change something about your golf, what would it be? It’s still the chipping (laughing).

17. Who’s your favourite footballer of all time? I loved Roy Keane but Zinedine Zidane was fantastic. He was a bit like Liam Coyle in that he just had that poetic way of moving. I’d have to throw in Eric Cantona as well. Then in the modern game, Kevin de Bruyne. He always appears to make the right decision.

18. What’s your idea of perfect happiness? A hole in one would be nice, but with the Irish Under 16 set-up, it’s seeing the success of players in their development during the nine months they are with us in the group. It gives me so much joy to see a player develop, to see the team develop and the staff develop, and even myself develop. I love preparing for a game, analysing opposition and then putting a game plan in place. Even if it doesn’t succeed, it’s still very enlightening. We lost 3-0 to Germany three years ago, but it’s still one of the best performances we’ve had because we succeeded in doing so many of the things we’d planned to do.