{"id":503378,"date":"2026-02-25T15:14:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T15:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/503378\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T15:14:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T15:14:13","slug":"ash-barty-ready-to-dust-off-the-cobwebs-with-return-to-competition-at-new-zealand-open-golf-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/503378\/","title":{"rendered":"Ash Barty ready \u2018to dust off the cobwebs\u2019 with return to competition at New Zealand Open golf tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tennis<\/a> great Ash Barty will take a no-stress attitude into her high-profile pro-am pairing with good mate and DP World Tour player Anthony Quayle at the NZ Open.<\/p>\n

The pro-am component of the $A1.69 million golf<\/a> tournament at Millbrook Resort now draws comparisons with the storied events at Pebble Beach and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews.<\/p>\n

Eleven-time world surfing champion Kelly Slater is a high-profile addition to this year\u2019s field, which also includes the likes of Barty, former Australian Test cricket captain Ricky Ponting, his long-time NZ adversary Stephen Fleming and ex-All Blacks greats Jeff Wilson and Israel Dagg.<\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n

Since retiring from tennis to focus on her young family, former tennis world No.1 Barty has had little to time to devote to golf, another of her sporting loves.<\/p>\n

But the Wimbledon, French Open and Australian Open champion is very much looking forward to teaming up with Quayle this week where she will play off a handicap of four.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a beautiful place to visit, a beautiful place to play golf, so it\u2019ll be nice to dust the cobwebs off the clubs,\u201d the 29-year-old told AAP.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve played two rounds of golf in two years so the form is pretty scarce.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe good thing is I\u2019m fresh and there are no demons so what could possibly go wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n

Barty reached out to Quayle a couple of months ago and he was more than happy to sign on as her playing partner in the pro-am.<\/p>\n

\"AshAsh Barty could be a dark horse in the NZ Open pro-am, according to her playing partner. (Michael Thomas\/AAP PHOTOS) Credit: AAP<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of all worked out really well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor such an incredible athlete, each time I\u2019ve asked her how her lead-in to this event has been she\u2019s like \u2018Oh, it\u2019s just terrible, the game\u2019s terrible, I just haven\u2019t played enough\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then I was watching her hit a few putts with a custom Wimbledon Odyssey putter.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe holed about eight in a row and I\u2019m like, \u2018I don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about. You could be a bit of an over-achiever here\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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