Mr. & Mrs. Player, march under an archway of golf clubs.

January 19, 1957
Gary Player & Vivienne Verway

Often when a woman gets married, she is in danger of becoming a golf widow.  Well, Vivienne Verway can tell you what that’s like.

Verway, a swimming champion and daughter of a professional golfer met Gary Player at a country club when they were both just 14 years old. Like Vivienne’s father and brother, Gary became a professional golfer.

When they married in 1957, they walked under an archway of golf clubs that groomsmen held like sabers. Soon after, they began their family, parenting six children.

In the beginning, the entire family, including a tutor would accompany Player on tournaments, but all the traveling became too taxing. After giving herself the title, “The World’s Number One Golf Widow” in 1964, they reached a compromise that he would only tour six months out of the year.

Fifty-three years after their nuptuals, the two are still deeply in love. On his website (garyplayer.com), Player described his wife by saying, “Behind every successful man is a woman, but behind every successful professional golfer is an exceptional woman.”

Well said, Mr. Player!