Daily Times

LAHORE: The Defence Raya Monthly Medal Golf Tournament, contested over 18 holes on stroke play basis under floodlights, concluded successfully at the marvelous Defence Raya Golf Course here on Monday. This was a day-night golf tournament, the first of its kind in Lahore and stirred up the competitive spirit of the participating golfers who felt captivated and charmed by the floodlit conditions and were jubilant over becoming a part of history.

Those who put up an inspirational display of quality golf were Rana Nasir Khan and Umair Butt in the gross category and Chaudhary Hamid and Atif Ibrahim in the net section. In the race for honours in gross category, it was a tie between Nasir and Umair. Nasir ended up with a round of gross 75 and so did Umair. But Nasir secured the top prize based on a better performance on the back nine. Though Umair played a consistent game of accurate hitting and perfectly timed approach shots, he had to be content with the runner-up slot. Undoubtedly, Nasir exhibited command and control over his powerful tee shots and his victory was definitely well deserved. In the gross section competition, some others who applied their playing qualities well were Haris Naseer, Amir Chaudhary and Jamal Nasir. This trio produced a similar score of gross 78, compiled through good hitting and steady play on the greens.

The top performer in the net category turned out to be Chaudhary Hammid and this victory was achieved and attained with the help of a score of net 66. He does not have a history of past victories associated with his name and this feat assisted him in lining up his name amongst the winners. Two more who stood out as talented ones in this championship were Atif Ibrahim and Haroon Rashid. These two upcoming golfers came up with an impressive score of net 68. Other participants with good net scores were Ahmed Jamal (net 70), Zahid Maqsood (net 71), Jamal Nasir (net 71) and Moin Virk (net 71).

Published in Daily Times, June 26^th 2018.