Daily Times

LAHORE: In the 18 holes stroke-play Monthly Medal Golf Tournament, contested at the Royal Palm Golf and Country Club Golf Course, here Sunday, the competition ended with young and talented Hussain Hamid emerging as the winner in gross section and the experienced Umair Butt as the participating competitor with the best net score. All in all the golfers found the going tough and the challenge posed by the golf course was not adequately countered and the scores merely reflected steady play with the element of quality golf missing. Even single handicappers like Nasir Mehmood, Amir Mehmood, Khawaja Jehanzeb, Sharjeel Awan, Omer Ehsan Dar and Jameel Khalid did not succeed in making an impression whereas the youthful one Hussain, who is playing over the weekends only because of career pursuits applied his golfing skills to good effect, stood out as the best one, thereby picking up the Monthly Medal.

His round of gross 78 was compiled through a score of gross 39 on the front nine and a similar 39 on the back nine. The runner-up in gross section was Faisal Sayid, another accomplished player, who is normally in the top performers’ category, whenever he competes. But this time he had to concede victory to Hussain as he had a score of 80 as against Hussain’s 78.

Umair, a nine handicapper, kept his cool and came up with enough accuracy to manage a net score of 72 and thereby pick up the best net trophy. The runner-up prize went to Farid Malik. Umair and Farid had alike scores of net 72, and as per rules Umair became entitled to first net by virtue of a better score on the back nine.

The winners in the other events: Abdul Rauf, the winner gross in handicap category 13 to 18, and the runner-up was Jaudat Hussain. In the same handicap category, the winner net was Naseer Akhter and the runner-up net prize went to Waqar Butt. The top performer in the senior section was long hitter Irfan Raja and through a round of gross 82 he got the first gross. The net winner in the senior section was Imran Miraj. Amir Kabir hit the longest drive, while Khalid Khan chipped well enough to grab the nearest to the pin prize. At the conclusion of the event, prizes were awarded to the winners by Ahmed Iqbal Saeed, Vice President Operations, Royal Palm Golf and Country Club.

Published in Daily Times, September 25^th 2017.