Mark Wahlberg Turns His Backyard Into a Private Golf Course Because He Can

Mark Wahlberg, right, poses in his backyard. (Photo: via Instagram)

The bigger the boy, the bigger the toys — just ask Mark Wahlberg. The movie star, who turned 45 this week, shared a photo of the latest recreational addition to his home: a golf course. Yes, that’s right: a golf course.

“Shout out to Dominic Nappi and his crew at Back Nine Greens,” Wahlberg wrote on his post on Wednesday with a picture of himself standing in front of an impressive course with verdant, rolling hills. “They built an unbelievable golf practice complex in my backyard. #BestArtificial Turf.”

While this was the first time the actor gave a shout-out to the course’s creators, it’s not the first time he’s given fans a glimpse into his extravagant backyard. Roughly one month ago, he posted a video of himself driving the ball toward what appears to be that same stunning landscape. Thanks to the angle of the sun, it’s pretty hard to tell whether it was a good shot, but the clip ends with him high-fiving a friend, so we can assume that to be a sign of a job well-done. And if not, at least he can practice whenever he wants.

What makes his pricey new playground even more shocking, though, is the fact that Wahlberg happens to live a stone’s throw away from the Riviera Country Club, which is by and large considered to be one of the premier golf spots in the nation — though it does come with a $250,000 initiation fee. (But something tells us he’s probably already paid that.)

Wahlberg’s house while under construction in 2013. (Photo: Splash News)

A favorite of the Hollywood set, the club has hosted one U.S. Open, two PGA Championships, and a U.S. Senior Open, in addition to serving as the perennial site of the PGA Tour’s Northern Trust Open. In fact, Humphrey Bogart used to hang out at the 12th green and watch the pros play.

In other words, Wahlberg probably could have just practiced there.

The actor, formerly known as Marky Mark, at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in Pebble Beach, Calif., in February. (Photo: Getty Images)

Still, Wahlberg has always seemed to have a penchant for making upgrades to his abodes. His last house — an 11,5000-square-foot mansion — included a full-size basketball court, a massive pool with waterfalls and grottoes reminiscent of the Playboy Mansion’s, and a two-floor private gym built in a converted airport hanger that featured a professional boxing ring. To put things in perspective, however, his current house — where he lives with wife, Rhea Durham, and their four children — could basically eat that one for breakfast because it clocks in at a whopping 30,000 square feet.

Waxing poetic on his foray into golf, Wahlberg played it cool. “It’s the sport that I vowed never to play because I like contact sports,” he told Time magazine in 2007. “It seems like it shouldn’t even be called a sport, but it’s the most challenging, relaxing, frustrating game ever invented."

And that’s why he needed to be able to practice without dealing with the riffraff at the Riviera Country Club.