Daily Times

LAHORE: 103 top professional players of the country completed their first round in the 10th JA Zaman Memorial Open Golf Championship, endorsed by the Zaman Family, at the par-72 Lahore Gymkhana Golf Course here on Thursday. Some competitors produced scores of distinction, while at the same time a large number of aspirants ended up in torment as their scores surged to a dispiriting level. Looking remarkable were Hamza Amin of Rumanza Golf Club, Mohammad Asif of Ibex Golf Club Sargodha and Kashif Masih of Lahore Garrison. All three contenders demonstrated a masterly touch in all aspects of golfing and came up with a similar score of gross 68, four under par. From the word go, forceful Hamza took command of the flow of the championship and thereby made his winning strategy discernible. Though Asif and Kamran played exceptionally well too, Hamza, who has a lot of international experience up his sleeve, is likely to stay committed to his action plan for this prestigious championship over the remaining three rounds. The championship carries a rewarding prize money purse of Rs 7.5 million.

Also notable, however, was the application of golfing skills by Asif and Kamran and they looked firm on continuing their high calibre performance in the rounds to come. Out of the established ones, Matloob Ahmed of Lahore Garrison was marvelous, hitting his shots to perfection and through unwavering control over approach shots, compiled a score of gross 69, three under par. He was not occupying the elevated top slot on the leaderboard like Hamza and Asif and Kamran but he was aware that their edge was merely one stroke and the stroke advantage was not appalling.

Placed at a score of gross 70 was the wonder boy Ahmed Baig, a young one oozing with expertise, self-assurance and spirited zestfulness. He won the Rumanza Open title last week and again is poised to do well at the JA Zaman Open, though superior adversaries like Shabbir and Matloob and even Hamza hope to stop his winning resolve. The battle is frightfully animated and any prediction cannot be reckoned with. Also placed at a score of gross 70 was M Rizwan of Lahore Gymkhana. He is relatively new to the professional ranks, but his sweat and work are doing wonders for him as he is getting noticed by the experts. The gruesome competition among leading golf professionals can be gauged from the fact that 12 competing professionals were bunched together at a score of gross 71, one under par. These contenders were Danish (PAF-1), Talat Ijaz ,Jafal Hussain (Gymkhana), Khalid Khan (Peshawar), Muhammad Zubair (Islamabad), M Saqib, Umar Farooq and M Haroon (Lahore Garrison), Talib Hussain (CDA), Syed Bilal Hussain Shah and Shabbir Iqbal (Margalla Greens) and Muhammad Nazir (Rawalpindi Golf Club). This looks sublime for development of national golf. The game on Friday (today) promises high quality golfing. The amateurs will start their rounds today.