Donal Hughes

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Donal Hughes is an Irish sport broadcaster, influencer, and athlete. Originally a sports writer, Hughes turned his hobby into an alternative career when he became the golfing "SpinDoctor" with the Irish Examiner. Later, he became head of the satirical golf website golfcentraldaily.com. He also curates social media and works as an influencer for sports companies involved in Golf, Gaelic Football, and Triathlon. In addition, he is the chief equipment reviewer of Golfbidder, with over 9.6 million views on his YouTube videos as of late 2020.^[1]

Born in 1974, Hughes grew up in Ballinrobe, County Mayo in the West of Ireland. He completed a degree in Applied Chemistry in Dublin City University winning the AGB gold medal for highest final year exam results.^{[citation needed]} He went on to earn a Ph.D. in 1999. Hughes returned to Mayo, and later married. He is a father of four.

Hughes, in his early life, represented his county Mayo in Gaelic football at all underage levels as a goalkeeper and achieved honours in squash, badminton, rugby and soccer.^{[citation needed]} He received the DCU "Sportstar Of The Year" award] in 1993 from the then Irish Minister for Sport Liam Aylward, having represented the university on nine winning teams across five sports.^{[citation needed]} Hughes took up golf following an injury and now competes in Ironman events. At the Hurricane Matthew-shortened Ironman in North Carolina, it was reported in the media that he intended to run through the finish line and cycle an extra 62 miles to ensure that he completed the full Ironman distance of 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and a marathon 26.22-mile run on that day.^[2] Hughes also now works as a Gaelic Football goalkeeping coach.^{[citation needed]}

In 2007, Hughes devised and undertook a record breaking challenge for charity entitled The Round Ireland Golf Challenge.^[3] Along with fellow golfer Michael Nolan, Hughes completed 32 rounds of golf, in each of Ireland's 32 counties, over 32 consecutive days finishing on 6 September 2007 at The Heritage Golf Club. During the challenge, the pair played every course and covered a driving distance of over 5,000km. The achievement raised €100,000 for children's and cancer charities in Ireland including Playing For Life,^[4] The Friends of St. Lukes,^[5] Barretstown Castle,^[6] and The Jack and Jill Foundation.^[7] Hughes retains his charity involvement as a West Of Ireland envoy for an anonymous donor to rural and social development projects.

In preparation for his Round Ireland Golf Challenge, Donal Hughes came to the attention of the Irish golfing community and was commissioned by the Irish Examiner to write a log of his adventures. Following the project, Hughes was retained by the Irish Examiner to write a weekly golfing column in the paper. His approach to golf writing lead to Hughes writing a full page each Tuesday in the sports section of the paper with an average readership of 238,000.^[8] Known as the "SpinDoctor", Hughes' page featured until 2012. Hughes now runs the website GolfCentralDaily and is the golf equipment reviewer and interviewer for UK based golf retailer Golfbidder. He also curates social media for several golf related companies.