It was announced today the likes of Sir Ian Botham, Sir Viv Richards, Brian Lara and Shane Warne will all line up at the Open, playing in the inaugural ANZ Celebrity Challenge.
Also lining up are international cricketers Graeme Swann, Ricky Ponting and New Zealand's Stephen Fleming, Nathan Astle and Mark Richardson.
The chairman of the BMW New Zealand Open organising committee John Hart welcomed the opportunity to have New Zealand's most prestigous golf event align with the Cricket World Cup.
"It is quite unique to have this incredible line-up of cricket legends come to New Zealand as a group for the first time. Our tournament creates the opportunity to celebrate New Zealand's co-hosting of the Cricket World Cup, and to enjoy the banter and rivalry that exists amongst this group of legendary sportsmen,'' Hart said.
The celebrity challenge format will have each cricketer partnered with a professional in two ball, best ball format.
The former cricketers all play off their handicaps and the winning team is the one with the lowest score over the four days.
The Open will be played from March 12-15 at the Hills and Millbrook.
