Football legend Gianfranco Zola believes he’s in with a shout of picking up a maiden win on the Legends Tour’s wapp Celebrity Series, with this week’s two courses at the Constance Belle Mare Plage Mauritius suiting his eye.
The former Chelsea striker, who is a self confessed “golf nut”, is joined in the star-studded Grand Final with sporting and entertainment royalty, including Brian McFadden, of Westlife fame, legendary former Manchester United striker Teddy Sheringham, Celtic hero Packie Bonner and 1996 Formula One World Champion Damon Hill.
They will compete for a prize fund of $100,000, with the champion bagging a quarter of that for a charity of their choice.
“Mauritius is an amazing place, it’s really nice and the people are very good to use – we couldn’t ask for more,” said the Italian.
“I’ve played both the Legends and Links courses and I love both of them. I like these type of courses because they are technical, you don’t need to be extremely long to play well. If you stay straight then you have a very good chance to score well, so I’m looking forward to it as they suit my game.”
Zola, who took up the game when playing for Chelsea through his compatriot Gianluca Vialli, boasts the lowest handicap of the celebrities playing in Mauritius, but didn’t want to give too much information away when asked how often he plays the game.
“I can not give secret information to my competitors, but for you I will make an exception!” joked Zola, who will be donating his winnings to an MS centre in Italy.
“I play three times a week, but don’t tell the others! When I’m in good form, my short game saves a lot of shots, and this week’s courses we are playing on are very similar to what I play back home. It’s not long and suits my game very much, so that has helped me lower my handicap.”
The Celebrity Series gets underway on Wednesday 5th December on the Constance Golf Links, with the second round taking place the following day on Constance Golf Legend.
