Daily Times

LAHORE: The historical golf arena of Lahore Gymkhna lost a notable young golfer, Raza Ali Khan, to a road accident that took away his life instantly. Invariably courteous and helpful this progeny of a golfing family was always seen shuffling around the Gymkhana Golf Course with an air of permanence complemented by golfing mastery and dexterity. For that reason it came as a shock when his playing mates, his seniors and fellow members learnt that he was no more. The tragedy was petrifying and golfers felt deranged and unsettled. Loss was just too terrible as a prospect in golf had been lost to a Divine Call. But then time has its own way of alleviating trauma and his friends at Lahore Gymkhana decided to honour his memory by holding the Raza Ali Khan Memorial Pro Am 2023 Golf Tournament at Lahore Gymkhana Golf Course here on Friday.

An enthusiastic golfer that Raza Ali Khan was, the aspirants who assembled to participate in this tournament were several and most of them accomplished golf players. Sardar Murad, the recently crowned senior amateur golf champion of Pakistan, was there and so were Omar Zia, Taimur Shabbir, Khawaja Imran Zubair, Asad Hameed, Aftab Arshad, Khursheed Aziz, Farooq Khan plus quite a few other remarkable ones. As for flow of the Raza Ali Khan Pro Am Golf, the format involved teaming together one golf professional with two amateurs and names were drawn out of the hat to make the competition equitable. During the course of the 18 holes tournament, noticeable was the golfing prowess on display. Indeed every competitor played focused golf and visible was concentrated self-discipline in shot making, excellence around the greens and persuasive putting.

The champions team that earned the honour of attaining dignity as the front runners comprised Shahid Hanif, (golf professional), Omar Zia and Fahad Yousaf, both amateurs. Their team score was 13 under par and this reflected a truly applaudable feat. The second position holders were Shahid Javed Khan (golf professional) and amateur players were Sardar Murad and Ammar Hameed. This team also had an impressive score of 11 under par. The third position teams were two: one were of Daniyal Jehangir, Aftab Arshed and Taimur Shabbir and the other team were Asif Ali, Imran Zubair and Khurshid Aziz. These two teams accumulated scores of 10 under par. Another team that ended the match at 9 under par were Akbar Mehroze, Asad Hameed and Farooq Khan. The closing moments in this Raza Ali Khan Memorial Pro Am Golf Tournament were heart warming yet touching and heart rending as his wife and children distributed prizes amongst the top performers. And the universal consensus was that this golf event will be an annual affair.