LAHORE, Apr 04 (APP):The National Amateur Golf Championship of Pakistan which commenced Thursday here at the Garrison Golf Course is producing refreshing and stimulating competitive golf that is expected to bring to the forefront the new amateur golf champion of Pakistan at the conclusion of four rounds (72 holes).
After the completion of the first round in this four rounds national title bearing championship hosted by Pakistan Golf Federation, Abdul Zahoor of Multan played an amazing first round of gross 69, three under par to set the pace in this event.
In the face of intense challenge offered by 62 other acclaimed and reputable aspirants, this highly skilled and experienced golfer was right on target from the word go and his opening regulation par on the first hole was an illustration of his intention to dominate his adversaries who have hopes of surfacing as players of merit during this championship. In the course of the opening round Abdul Zahoor went through a faultless eighteen holes and supported by birdies on three holes he managed to create a spectacle of his motives and design to appear as the mighty one, as the event proceeds.
The leader of the first round, Abdul Zahoor may be satisfied with his own effort but from the competitive angle his nearest challengers are two more good players, Zulfiqar Ali, a club mate from Multan and Zubair Hussain of PAF. For Zulfiqar the first round score was gross 71 and Zubair carded a round of gross 72. No doubt these two contenders are regarded as deft and masterful golfers and posses the capacity to add to their first round fulfilling scores through a display of quality and distinctive golf.
Some more contenders striving for top positions are Mohsin Zafar (Gymkhana) 73, Mohammad Ashfaq (Abbotabad) 74, Raza Ali (MGC) 74, and Robin Bagh (Gymkhana) also at 74. Others at fairly decent scores are Raja Israr (GCG) 75 and this position he shares with five others. Their names are Pervaiz Malik (PAF), Ghazanfar Mehmood (GCG), Zubair Ahmed (WWG), Ayaz Saleem (Garrison) and Zunair Aleem Khan (Defence Raya). All these ten competitors seeking national honors have a task ahead of them and need to excel and produce scores of excellence on the remaining three days.
In the Inter Provincial Team Match, the Punjab ‘B’ team came out as the notable one as their players Raza Ali, Rafay Damil Ataullah and Salman Jehangir aggregated a team score of 226 giving them a lead of five strokes over their seniors, the Punjab ‘A’ Team. For Punjab ‘A’, the team members Ashiq Hussain, M.Saqib and Robin Bagh aggregated a score of 231. At third position are bracketed the Federal ‘A’Team and Sindh ‘A’ Team. Aggregate score for these two teams is 232.
The ladies will tee off tomorrow, Friday and the prominent ones like Rimsha Ijaz, Parkha Ijaz, Dania, Suneyah are all in the race for an attempt to capture the national ladies title 2019.
