Former pro baller, Tom Abercrombie played 16 seasons in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) for the New Zealand Breakers winning four championships.
A product of Westlake Boys High School in Auckland, Abercrombie had a short college basketball stint with Washington State before debuting in the Australian NBL in 2008 with the Breakers. In 2011, he won his first NBL championship and earned Grand Final MVP honours. He went on to win three more championships in 2012, 2013 and 2015. He ended his NBL career in 2024 as the Breakers’ most-capped player with 429 games.
He was also part of the Tall Blacks (New Zealand Basketball Team) who claimed a bronze medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in Australia.
Post playing career, he became a commentator and courtside reporter for the Australian NBL including all home games for the New Zealand Breakers.
- Where is your home golf club? Pupuke in Auckland but I play a lot at Waitemata. Love getting out to Titirangi and Te Arai links when I can as well.
- What’s your current handicap? 11.5, right in the sweet spot!
- What’s the best your handicap has been? I’ve cracked single figures a couple of times but haven’t played regularly enough to hold it there. Lowest was 9.5
- Golfing highlights: Undoubtedly it was when I got the chance to play at Tara Iti. A truly magnificent course and I got it on an absolute cracker of a winter’s day with a huge swell rolling in. Played some solid golf which always makes a nice course that much better. No hole in ones…yet.
- Have you played in a pro-am before? I played the Pupuke Pro Am about 10 years ago and I was terrible. I’m competitive in everything I do and I couldn’t stand it. That performance spurred me on to really get back into my golf and be able to hold my own at events like it. I’ve improved a lot since then but as we know you can never be satisfied in this game.
- How are you feeling about playing in the New Zealand Open? Super excited to experience playing in a golf event at the highest standards. Looking forward to seeing how the course dialled up to event standards will look and play. I’ve never played in Queenstown before so will be an absolute treat to play alongside some of the best golfers at Millbrook.
- What do you think it will be like to play alongside a professional? As a former professional myself I’m really intrigued to see how the pros go about their work. How they manage the course, the small details that make them the best, those are the things I can’t wait to see.
