LAHORE: Country’s top notch golfers will show case their talent and technique in the JA Zaman Memorial Open Golf Championship which begins at Lahore Gymkhana Club Golf Course her eon Thursday (today). Addressing a press conference here Wednesday, Shaukat Javed, convener golf of Lahore Gymkhana Club said that this was an open championship which was given total support by the Zaman family who ensured that this championship was held in a way that JA Zaman, an icon of excellence would have liked. “All the ingredients of the championship are remarkable, the players, the golf course, the arrangements and of course the quality of competition,” he added. Also present on the occasion were Hamid Zaman, Tariq Zaman, Khawaja Pervaiz Saeed and Tahir Khan. It is pertinent to highlight and share that during his lifetime late JA Zaman was regarded as a supporter of sports activity and he was associated with golf at Lahore Gymkhana for over 55 years of his 97 years of life. Hamid stated that the foremost positive aspect of the JA Zaman Open Golf Championship was that top golf professionals of the country were eligible to participate. “As a result they get an opportunity to perform well and add to their earnings and for most of these golf professionals it is a question of basic livelihood also. Hamid also committed that they were going to set up a fund for the welfare of the caddies, their training education and health care. Khawaja Pervaiz highlighted that for the professional golf players of Pakistan, ample were the cash prizes for the top performers, besides non cash awards for the participating amateurs. The prize money is Rs 1.7million which is Rs 200,000 more than the previous year to be distributed amongst thirty five top position holders. And another attraction is a car for a hole in one. He further said that there was also an event for the junior professionals. “Age eligibility for junior professionals is 23 years and the prize money is Rs 150,000.” As for senior professionals the age criteria is 50 years and above. Most of the senior professionals taking part in this championship are players who have performed at the national level during their youthful days. Prize Money allocated for them is Rs 200,000. Top ranked golf professionals taking part in this competition in their order of ranking are Shabbir Iqbal (Islamabad), Matloob Ahmed (Islamabad), Mohammad Munir (Islamabad), Shahid Javed Khan (Gymkhana), Waheed Baloch (Karachi), Shafiq Masih (Gymkhana) , Hamza Amin (Islamabad), Mohammad Ashfaq (Airmen Golf Club Karachi), Talib Hussain (Islamabad) and Mohammad Asif (Raya). Notable amongst the amateurs participating in this championship are Ahmad Baig, Muhammad Rehman, Ghazanfar Mehmood, Wazir Ali, Zunair Aleem Khan, Salman Jehangir, Imran Ahmad, Saqib Tufail, Ahsan Khawaja, Mohsen Zafar and Ahmad. Published in Daily Times, March 8th 2018.