LAHORE: At the end of the second round of the three rounds 8th Chief of Naval Staff Amateur Golf Championship, in progress at the par 72,Defence Raya Golf Course here on Saturday, Ahmad Baig, a top amateur golf player of Pakistan, displayed champion like capabilities, powering his tee shots in the 300 yards plus range and shooting his approach shots to perfection. During the second round of this prestigious championship, this established golf champion of the national golf arena excelled in all aspects of the game. This overnight leader did not relent and remained a frontrunner at the end of the second round too with a round of gross 60, a national record, and a two days aggregate score of 125, nineteen under par. His performance was inspirational as he rolled in five birdies on holes one to five and thereafter followed them up with an incredible number of seven birdies on holes 8, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16 and 17 adding up to twelve birdies in all. To support the birdies, he had six regulation pars and did not concede any stroke loss. Another competitor who played well but was completely overshadowed by the stellar performance of Ahmad was Zhoaib Asif of DHA Karachi. He was placed at an aggregate score of 144,nineteen strokes behind the leader. Out of the other established combatants Salman Jehangir also impressed with his massive tee shots. Watching his short game around the greens was a delight, with the soft touch evident and the control absolutely automatic yet his score of gross 72 during the second round looked like a humble effort as compared to Ahmad’s 60. Salman was placed at a score of 145 along with Zunair Aleem Khan. As for the other contenders, M Saqib was placed at a score of 146, followed by Mohsen Zafar at 148, Qamar Ali Khan at 149, Taimur Shabbir at 152, Sardar Murad at 154 and Aleem ur Rehman at 154. In the women’s event, a good performance was witnessed from the efforts of Parkha Ijaz of Defence Raya. Through accurate hitting she compiled a score of gross 76, and won the CNS women’s title. The runner-up was Rimsha Ijaz of the same club and she lost to Parkha by two strokes. Hamna Amjad of PAF Skyview Golf Club came third. Her score was gross 80. Published in Daily Times, November 18th 2018.