LAHORE: Robin Bagh won the 34th Millat Tractors Governor’s Cup Golf Championship after conclusion of the final and third round that produced razor sharp closing moments at the Lahore Gymkhana Club Golf Course here Sunday. At the end of 54 holes, the ultimate winner, Robin of Millat Equipment had an aggregate score of 210, net six under par (74+68+68) while out of his three nearest rivals and strong contenders, Ahmed Zafar Hayat ended the championship at the same score of net 210, but had to concede victory to Robin whose score was better over the last 36 holes. In the course of last 36 holes, Robin had a net score of 68+68=136, while Ahmed had a net score of 68+71=139. This decision was in line with the rules of the championship and had to be accepted as such, although it made the difference between glory and mere prize winning.
Robin was complimented by his sponsor Ahsan Imran of Millat Equipment who consented to continue his support to this talented young one. During the final round, Robin gave a spectacular performance and displayed exquisite form and application of golfing skills and timely excellence that helped him to edge past the other challengers like Wazir Ali, Reza Saeed and Ahmed.
Ahmed, who is an accomplished golfer, stayed on course to victory till the last hole, but a minor hicup in putting on the closing 18th hole left him without the title. However, he played solidly in all three rounds of the championship. The gross winner was Wazir Ali of Gymkhana Club by virtue of a steady performance. He may have lost in the race for net title but succeeded in acquiring the first gross position. His scores for the three rounds were 76+68+77, adding up to gross aggregate of 221. Suleman Akhter came second and Salman Jehangir was third.
Amongst the seniors, Imran Ahmed was outstanding and the hitting he displayed was quality oriented. In this category, Javed A Khan ended up second while Lt Col Asif Mehdi was third. As for the women’s competition, the hard working Zahida Durrani proved her mettle and won the title. The sole lucky one to win the hole in one prize was Lt Col (r) Muhammad Younas Barula. He hit a six iron on the par three ninth hole to win this honour. At the conclusion of the championship, Punjab Governor Malik Mohammed Rafique Rajwana and Chairman Millat Group of Companies Sikandar Mustafa Khan gave away the prizes to winners where Kamran Lashari, Chairman Lahore Gymkhana, Shaukat Javed, Convenor Golf, Tasnim Noorani, Mian Nisar, Parvez Masood, Shafqat Rana, Agha Pervaiz, MS Janjua and participating golfers were also present.
Result:
1: Robin Bagh (Millat Equipment) 74+68+68=210
2: Ahmed Zafar Hayat (Gymkhana Club) 71+68+71=210
3: Raza Saeed (Gymkhana Club) 70+72+69=211
4: Akash Bashir (Garrison Club) 69+74+70=213
5: Daanish Javed (Gymkhana Club) 71+71+72=214
Dr Abdul Hamid Awan (Gymkhana Club)72+68+75.
Best gross rounds went to Zain Tahir, Jafar Irfan and Mohsen Zafar and best net rounds went to Hussain Hamid, Ahmed Nawaz Tiwana and Akash Basir. Women winners were Ayesha Moazam (3rd net), Sameea Javed Ali (2nd net) and Zahida Durrani (1st net), Parkha Ijaz (3rd gross), Suneyah Osama (2nd gross), Remsha Ijaz (1st gross). Veterans winners were Air Cmdr ZI Ahmed (3rd net), Dr M Latif Chaudhary (2nd net), Col Abdul Ghaffar (1st net), Javed A Zia (3rd gross), UD Najmi (2nd gross), Hamid Aziz Sethi (1st gross). Seniors section net winners were Brig Tahir Saleem (3rd net), Dr Khurram Saadat (2nd net), Anwar Jalal (1st net) and gross winners Col Asif Mehdi (3rd gross), Javed A Khan (2nd gross) and Imran Ahmed (1st gross).
Published in Daily Times, October 30th 2017.