Gareth Bale throws weight behind Wales’ Cazoo Open

As speculation continues to rage over his future in football, Gareth Bale is throwing his considerable weight behind his country’s national golf open.

The four-time Champions League winner has committed to become the supporting partner of the Cazoo Open, which returns to Celtic Manor Resort, from July 22-25.

The Wales international, who has made 96 appearances for his country and is his nation’s all-time record goal scorer, is an avid golf fan and, in partnership with his management group ICM Stellar Sports, wants to play a role in the development of professional and junior golf in Wales.

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“The Cazoo Open had been away from the European Tour for a few years and, after watching the coverage last year, ICM Stellar Sports and I decided we wanted to play a part in the development of golf in Wales,” said Bale. “We want to make golf in Wales bigger and we believe that this event can play a big role in that. Hopefully we can get more people watching and grow the game of golf in Wales.

“We want to make it a real spectacle. To have the Welsh public involved would be amazing. We’ve looked at doing other things with junior golf to try and build up golf in Wales – we want to get youngsters out there to watch the players play and do as much as we can to promote it.”

Golf fans will have the opportunity to book their place at Celtic Manor Resort, with tickets for the Cazoo Open supported by Gareth Bale on sale now.

A strictly limited number of tickets will be available for each of the four competition days and the Wednesday pro-am. A percentage of tickets available will be donated to key frontline workers in recognition of their dedicated work throughout the pandemic.

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Celtic Manor Resort hosted two consecutive events on the 2020 Race to Dubai as part of the European Tour’s UK Swing, when the Cazoo Open and Celtic Classic were played at the 2010 Ryder Cup host venue.

“Celtic Manor is an incredible venue,” added Bale, who is an honorary member of the Twenty Ten Club. “It’s grown so much over the years; the facilities are amazing. The Twenty Ten course is hard when the rough is up and if you don’t hit many fairways. Everybody who has been there has loved playing it and it’s always a good test of golf.”