It could be the ultimate eclectic sports team: 15 globally recognised stars from a wide range of sports all come together this week in St Andrews to celebrate links golf – and, if possible, trying to win the Alfred Dunhill Links Team Championship.
What do they have in common? A love of golf and the thrill of playing on three of the greatest links courses in the world – the Old Course St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns, from October 3-6.
Among them is former Real Madrid and Wales star Gareth Bale who is playing for the second year running. Widely regarded as one of the best footballers of his generation and one of the greatest Welsh players of all time, he is famous for some spectacular goals.
In nine years with Real he won 15 trophies, including three La Liga titles and five Champions Leagues. He shot a one-under-par at Carnoustie in his first Alfred Dunhill Links last year.
The roll call of sporting celebrities who are swapping their bats, boots, scrums and surfboards for their golf clubs is impressive.
Cricket provides the biggest group, five-strong, led by England’s record-breaking fast bowler Jimmy Anderson, Ashes winning captain Michael Vaughan and batsmen Kevin Pietersen, Allan Lamb and Mark Nicholas.
Also playing are record-breaking Olympic rower Sir Steve Redgrave, who has played in every Alfred Dunhill Links since 2001, Springboks Rugby World Cup winning flanker Schalk Burger Jnr, Denver Broncos John Elway, one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of American Football, and 11-time world surfing champion Kelly Slater.
Slater is the amateur all the professionals want to play with as he has twice partnered winners – Simon Dyson in 2009 and Thorbjorn Olesen in 2015. The hugely popular American, recognised as the greatest ever surfer, finished third in the Team Championship in 2009 and described it as “the best week of golf of my life.”
With a prize fund of $5 million, the event incorporates two separate competitions – an individual professional tournament for the world’s leading golfers and the Team Championship in which the professionals are paired with amateur golfers, creating a unique atmosphere.
Last year’s professional winner Matt Fitzpatrick, the 2022 US Open champion, won both the Individual title and the Team Championship with his mum Sue. He will be back with Sue to defend both.
Among those who have confirmed they will be playing are some of the biggest international stars in the game. Tommy Fleetwood is playing again after winning the Olympic silver medal in Paris and hoping to go even further than in 2019, when he won the Alfred Dunhill Links Team Championship, while Padraig Harrington and Tyrrell Hatton will be trying to become the first ever three-time winner.
Also in the field are Major Champions Brooks Koepka, Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy, Louis Oosthuizen, Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed and Danny Willett, plus crowd favourite Billy Horschel, winner of last month’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
This year there is a strong local challenge led by Bob MacIntyre, winner of the Genesis Scottish Open and the Canadian Open earlier in the summer, and Grant Forrest, Calum Hill, Scott Jamieson, David Law, Richie Ramsay and Connor Syme.
For the first three days entry is free. Only tickets for the final day, October 6, on the Old Course, need to be purchased. To purchase tickets, visit www.alfreddunhilllinks.com/tickets/