LAHORE: Hussain Hamid of Royal Palm Golf Club, Hamza Asif, Ammad Nadim and Raza Khan, all of Gymkhana Club, excelled in the first round of the three-round 34th Millat Tractors Governor’s Cup Golf Championship that started at the Lahore Gymkhana Club Golf Course here Friday. These upcoming talent enriched golfers fired a net round of five -under-par 67 to take the opening round lead over 76 other competitors. These four youngsters, who exhibited impressive flair during their golf outings at this prestigious championship on day one, certainly appeared all charged up to perform superbly in next two rounds. Out of these four leaders, Hussain is a youngster who plays with a winning interest and approach and has been a consistent performer in Royal Palm Golf competitions. Expectations from him are huge and hopefully he will show a stable temperament as the heat picks up during the remaining two rounds. As for the other three, Hamza, Ammad and Raza, their driving abilities are accuracy-loaded and driving distance applaudable. But temperament wise Hussain has an edge though it is going to be partially neutralised by the handicap advantage that Hamza, Ammad and Raza enjoy over the skillful Hussain. Hamza plays to a handicap of ten,while Ammad and Raza have a fourteen handicap and Hussain is a single handicapper falling in the five handicap bracket. Just one shot back behind the four leaders was Nauan Nayyar of the host club and his chances of playing with authority over the remaining two rounds cannot be discounted. Other local talents who did well were Suleman Akhter, Ahmed Jabran and Salman Gulzar. Finishing the first round with an amazing score of net 69, these three are also poised for a crack at the title. In addition, there were three other participants who completed the opening round with an appreciable score of net 69. Faisal Sayid of Defence Raya was one and two others were Akash Bashir (Lahore Garrison) and Zain Tahir (Islamabad). The leaders admitted that it was a challenging day at the Lahore Gymkhana Golf Course but managed excellence through accurate tee shots and short game. Hussain said: “It wasn’t easy but I had my local caddy to thank. I was hitting the ball really good from the tees and my putting was also good.” said. The amateur champions tee off at 745 hrs on Saturday and the competitors number 80. Nineteen women will also enter the contest on Saturday and include names like Ghazala Yasmeen, Parkha Ijaz, Remsha Ijaz, Suneyah Osama, Zahida Durrani and Shahzadi Gulfam. Leading first round scores (net): 1: Hussain Hamid (Royal Palm Club) 67 2: Hamza Asif (Gymkhana Club) 67 3: Ammad Nadim (Gymkhana Club) 67 4: Raza Khan (Gymkhana Club) 67 5: Nauan Nayyar (Gymkhana Club) 68 6: Suleman Akhter, Ahmed Jabran, Salman Gulzar (Gymkhana Club) 69 7: Akash Bashir (Garrison Club) 69 8: Zain Tahir (Islamabad Club) 69 9: Damil Ataullah (Garrison Club), Reza Saeed (Gymkhana Club) and Farooq A.Khan (Gymkhana Club) all at 70 10: Ahmad Zafar Hayat, Daanish Javed and Shaharukh Zaman of Gymkhana Club all placed at 71. Published in Daily Times, October 28th 2017.