World Cup star’s genius way round team’s golf ban
By Alex Perry
Hats off to Wales megastar and golf obsessive Gareth Bale for this beautiful solution
“There’s no golf. We’re out there to do a job.” That was Wales manager Rob Page’s message to his players ahead of the World Cup. His message, you have to feel, was aimed in particular at his star man, Gareth Bale.
“We won’t have enough time,” Page added. “There is a game every four days. It’s relentless.”
Bale, we already know, is a certified golf obsessive. He put his name to the Cazoo Open at Celtic Manor last year, and he even has a replica of TPC Sawgrass’s famous 17th in his back garden. (Yes, really.)
But when you were once the most expensive footballer in the world, you can get things done. And the rumour mill is circulating that Bale, once of Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid and now with Los Angeles FC, has arranged to have a golf simulator installed in the Wales team’s hotel so they can get a few swings in between training sessions.
And one of Bale’s teammates, Cardiff striker Mark Harris, has all but confirmed the whispers.
“I think most of us have had a swing and we had a go after training as we had some spare time,” he told the Express.
Genius.
Wales are playing in their first World Cup since 1958 and have been drawn in a group with neighbours England, his current homeland of the USA, and Iran.
Alex Perry
Alex has been the editor of National Club Golfer since 2017. A Devonian who enjoys wittering on about his south west roots, Alex moved north to join NCG after more than a decade in London, the last five of which were with ESPN. Away from golf, Alex follows Torquay United and spends too much time playing his PlayStation or his guitar and not enough time practising his short game.
