Exclusive: Mark Wahlberg took a detour from his filming schedule to play a round of golf at a Western Sydney golf course.
Macquarie Links International Golf Club‘s director of operations, Sapna Tolani, almost couldn’t believe the A-lister was going to set foot on their course, located in the city’s south-western suburbs.
Sapna told nine.com.au Wahlberg, 54, tried to visit the course three times before they were able to squeeze him in last Saturday.
”We managed to make it work. We moved things around to make sure he was the first person on the course on a Saturday morning, which is usually a members-only time,” she said.
Despite his Hollywood status, the Family Plan star rocked up to the course without any security or entourage.
The golf club’s owner, and Sapna’s father, Chandru Tolani even managed to play three holes with the superstar, who he described as “really nice” and “very down to earth.”
“[It was] just him and his friends. I played the back nine with him,” he told nine.com.au.
“I even offered him coffee or tea, he said ‘No thank you,’ he just wanted to play golf.”
Between taking “several” phone calls from the US, Wahlberg chatted to Chandru about his shoe and activewear company, Municipal, and even took down his shoe size to send him a pair.
“He was a very lovely man,” Chandru said.
“He was happy to take photos with the members. He was not rude at all, to anybody.”
He played a full 18 holes “very well,” according to Chandru, and was on the course for about three hours.
“He loved it … he plans to come back and play again before he leaves!” the owner added.
Wahlberg was a fan of the club’s signature holes – hole 11 and hole 15.
The star is in Sydney filming his latest project, a Netflix film called The Big Fix. He plays a former police officer and FIFA integrity specialist.
He has plans to stay in Sydney for filming until July, Chandra said.
The actor even invited Chandra and daughter Sapna to dinner before he jets back to the US.
“He wants me to pick the restaurant … we’ll probably go next week,” Chandra said.
“It’s been a lovely experience to have him on the course, and it’s very great for the community and the area as well,” Sapna added.
The Macquarie Links International Golf Course is a championship course that is well known among avid golfers.
