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Australian sporting superstars Ash Barty and Ricky Ponting have got into the swing of things at the New Zealand Open pro-am.
Playing golf with a legend from another sport is hardly a novelty for Australian stalwart Marcus Fraser.
He and former national cricket captain Ricky Ponting are great friends and long-time clubmates at Peninsula-Kingswood GC in Melbourne.
They have played together countless times and are doing so again to great effect this week in the New Zealand Open pro-am at Millbrook Resort.
But their fourball for the first two rounds was given even greater star power with the inclusion of former tennis world No.1 and three-time major winner Ash Barty.
Barty's husband Garry Kissick caddies for Australian pro Louis Dobbelaar, so she was a natural fit to complete the marquee group.
Ponting is a mad-keen amateur golfer who plays off a handicap of two.
The arrival of Barty and Kissick's first child Hayden last year has curtailed the former tennis champ's time on the golf course.
But a handicap of five is testament to her all-round sporting ability.
Fraser, 45, was excited to card back-to-back rounds of five-under 66 to be right in contention at the midway point of the $ANZ2 million ($A1.885 million) professional tournament.
It's fair to assume his wife was just as thrilled - both with how Fraser performed and who he was playing alongside.
"My wife is very jealous because she's completely obsessed with Ash and loves her to bits," Fraser told AAP.
"When she saw the draw she wanted to come over to New Zealand and meet her.
"I'm very lucky to get the chance to play with such an absolute superstar.
"And as great as she is at her sport, she's a 10-times better person. It was great fun being out there with her."
The pairing of Fraser and Ponting were in the top 10 after two rounds of the pro-am, while Dobbelaar and Barty were well down the leaderboard.
Not that it mattered all that much in the big picture for the two golf pros or their celebrated partners.
"Louis and I were talking about it walking down the last hole today," said Fraser.
"For Australia they're probably our two biggest sporting icons and two of the top five of all-time.
"It's been a great thrill."
The professional tournament and pro-am are played side-by-side at the NZ Open in the same manner as the celebrated Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews.
