After two days of tramping the fairways of The Hills and Millbrook, watching golf swings of every imaginable shape, style and size, I keep asking myself the same question: ''If I had a spare $10,000, would I pay to play in the pro-am at this NZ Open?''
Answer: Only if my name was Ricky Ponting or Stephen Fleming - or if I had a golf game like Sam Hamilton.
Ponting and Fleming all cricket lovers will know. But, I hear you ask, Sam Hamilton? Well, more of him later, but first some observations on how the two cricketing greats seem to have adapted to their new sporting vocations.
As you might expect of such gifted sportsmen, their transition from excellent team men and captains to the more individualistic demands of golf appears to be almost seamless.
Ponting, reportedly a plus-1 handicapper at Royal Melbourne, one of the world's truly great (and demanding) golf courses, made the headlines for his golfing exploits before this tournament and was at it again after notching six birdies on the first day,When I watched him yesterday afternoon at The Hills, he had that same, self-assured presence as he did during his halcyon cricketing days.
Pro golfers, in their best form, walk the fairways with a certain nonchalant confidence, at peace with themselves, their game and their surroundings. In short, they look like they belong out there - and that's the impression Ponting exudes, even if that may not be his intention.
I suppose it makes a pleasant change, wandering the fairways wearing a soft-covered golf cap instead of shaping up to a fast bowler, helmeted and hopeful and having to deal with someone chirping away in your ear from the slips as well.
No-one booing from the sidelines either, when you make a duck or get out to a tentative prod. Instead, golf fans usually warmly applaud the good shots and stay respectfully quiet when you fluff a chip shot, as Ponting did when just off the first green yesterday.
But he shrugged that off to crack a three wood into the wind down the tight par-4 second hole, leaving himself less than 80m to the pin, and repeated the same high-class fare on the next two holes, much to the delight of the large (and hardy) band of supporters following the foursome.
But, despite this quality display, tournament golf doesn't always follow the storybook plot of a happy ending. By the end of the day, Ponting and his professional partner, Daniel Popovic, had a respectable combined score of 8-under par for 36 holes. Trouble is the ''cut'' for the leading 35 (and ties) pairs was 10-under.
Which is where we return to Sam Hamilton, about whom we knew nothing at all until yesterday when he and his West Australian mate, professional Brody Ninyette, walked off their last green, in heavy rain, at Millbrook to sign for a team score of (wait for it) 25-under (yes, 25!).
What makes that result even more remarkable is Ninyette's total, after rounds of 73 and 70, is 1-under, which means the amateur, Hamilton, has cranked up a scoring storm, or should that be a heatwave, given the fairly frigid weather. However you describe it, their combined efforts threaten to turn the $50,000 pro-am into a one-sided contest with still two days to go.
Their nearest rivals, Peter Cooke (South Australia) and Jason Hughes (Dunedin), and David Klein (NZ) and John Guthrie (Arrowtown) are 10 shots back at minus-15, one shot ahead of Nick Gillespie (NZ) and John Bowring, Rocco Mediate (USA) and Mark Richardson, and Josh Geary (NZ) and Gerard Peterson, all at 14-under.
Watching Hamilton yesterday I was left with the same he-belongs-out-there impression formed later when following Ponting. Hamilton's ball-striking was crisp, his distance control (he carries a yardage book) impressively accurate and his putting assured.
Later, the 23-year-old, who plays off a 10 handicap, attributed much of his excellent scoring down to switching to a broomhandle putter recently and being able to get in two weeks of practice locally before the event.
''Normally I've been missing from three feet [1m] but now I'm holing them,'' the England-born Victorian who works as a vegetation clearer for the railways said.
Footnote: While there is $50,000 at stake for the pro-am event, any prize money can only be won by the professionals in each team. After today's third round at The Hills, only the top 10 teams will make the cut for tomorrow's final round.
Meanwhile, the identity of the golfer to play alongside Prime Minister John Key and golfing great Sir Bob Charles in a special grouping tomorrow remains unknown, although the ODT understands American Rocco Mediate is on the short list, if he doesn't make the top 10 ''cut'' with team-mate Mark Richardson.
