Star footballer plays Royal Dornoch
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Star footballer Gareth Bale showed his skill with a different ball swapped as he travelled to the Highlands to play two of the region’s top golf courses - including Royal Dornoch.
The Wales and Real Madrid player teed off early at Castle Stuart near Inverness on Monday before heading for another 18 holes at Royal Dornoch in the afternoon.
A spokesman for the Sutherland course - consistently ranked in the top 10 courses in the world and is a favourite of former Open winner Tom Watson among others - confirmed that Bale had played a round.
The world’s most expensive footballer was in the Highlands with four schoolmates as part of an annual golf trip which they take every summer to a chosen location.
The £85million star was in a buoyant mood this week following his engagement to girlfriend Emma Rhys-Jones.
The Welshman confirmed the news on social media on Sunday after celebrating his 27th birthday on Saturday.
Bale wrote: "She said yes!! This is a birthday weekend I won’t forget for a long time."
A picture on the website shows the couple, with his girlfriend holding up her hand to reveal her engagement ring. The footballer has two children with high school sweetheart Rhys Jones.
Bale starred for his country at Euro 2016, scoring in all of Wales’ three games in Group B to help them top the table.
He was also influential in the tournament knockout stages, especially in their victory over Northern Ireland when his low, drilled cross was turned into the net by a defender.
He then played a key role in his country’s historic win over Belgium, a team performance branded by many as the best ever by a Wales football team.
But their tournament came to an end with a hard fought defeat against Portugal, who eventually won a tight final against host nation France.
Castle Stuart recently held the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, which was won by Swede Alex Noren.
