Ponting tees up for NZ Open
Three of the greatest cricket captains in Test history are confirmed as celebrity golfers for the New Zealand Open Championship in 2014.
Australia’s Ricky Ponting and Allan Border and New Zealand’s Stephen Fleming are among sport stars to confirm their place in the tournament’s pro-am format.
Ponting, 38, who hit headlines in recent weeks for the release of his controversial autobiography Ponting: At the Close of Play, will make his debut in the event that will be staged from February 27 to March 2 at The Hills and Millbrook in Queenstown.
Ponting, who has enjoyed the chance to play more golf in 2013 since hanging up his cricket spikes, says he isn’t just coming to make up the numbers.
Ponting has beaten his good friend, three-time PGA Tour winner Aaron Baddeley, over 18 holes. He plays off an impressive +1 handicap and boasts a career-low round of 66.
Border, who wore the Baggy Green cap for 156 Tests for Australia, is an ambassador at the Brookwater Golf Club in Brisbane and a member at The Australian Golf Club in Sydney.
Fleming, 40, who was so often Ponting’s adversary in Test matches throughout his career, said: "I have had a couple of games with Punter and happy to report I’m two-up."
There is also a host of former rugby legends returning to Queenstown in World Cup-winning Wallabies captain Nick Farr-Jones and All Black greats Jeff Wilson and Justin Marshall.
Ian Jarrett
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