Daily Times

LAHORE: The inaugural President PGA Open Golf Championship, endorsed by the Punjab Golf Association, and contested over six days at the par 72 PAF Skyview Golf Course, concluded here on Sunday. The golfing champions participating in this event found the competition rather brutal and only the most skillful ones ended up winning titles. And the aspirants who successfully broke the stranglehold of the sharp edged competition were Muhammad Shahzad in the professionals’ category, Damil Ataullah in the amateur section and Hamna Amjad in the women’s contest. A few other names also deserved a mention and were Muhammad Akram (senior professional winner), Rehan Babar (junior professional winner) and Lt Col M Ayub (senior amateur winner).

As for these high achievers, Shahzad of Lahore Garrison had the honour of prevailing over the otherwise unbeatable 200 titles winner Muhammad Shabbir Iqbal in a contest of excellence and this hard-working champion now finds himself as the new hero of professional golf in Pakistan. In the race for high achievement amongst amateurs, the young one Damil Ataullah held sway over some strong adversaries to emerge as the best amateur. Hamna Amjad, still in her teens, found herself up against players like Abeeha Syed and Parkha Ijaz and played dauntlessly to emerge as the women’s title winner.

At the conclusion of the championship, PGA President Lt Gen (r) Abdul Aziz was present personally to honour the top performers. He also shared that the Punjab Golf Association had set up a golf academy at Lahore Garrison Greens and a summer coaching camp was in progress to train selected young ones who would be lent full financial backing and technical support. He also shared that the PGA would be sending coaches to schools to familiarize and attract students to the game of golf.