Shabbir Iqbal of Islamabad, a super star of professional golf circuit of Pakistan, sparkled at the historic Lahore Gymkhana Club Golf Course during the first 18 holes of the 54-hole 6th JA Zaman Memorial Open Golf Championship here Friday. Regarded as an Open Golf Championship of prestige and prominence, it has attracted professional golf champions from all over the country, with all of them seeking lucrative cash prizes and positions of merit during the course of the three rounds championship. Out of the 100 contestants, in search for the top positions in professionals’ category, the one who stood out after the first 18 holes was the illustrious and virtually unassailable Shabbir. He dominated the opening day’s proceedings and flow of play with phenomenal and amazing command over his shot making and this is reflected in his score of gross 65, seven under par. No doubt Shabbir showed excellence in hitting powerful drives off the tees and backed this up with crisp shots from the fairways and level headed and reliable putting on the greens. “I succeeded in applying myself well and as the course was a little wet in some areas, I had to handle the shot making with skill and care and the effort paid off,” said Shabbir. In the course of the first round, Shabbir had eight birdies, nine pars, and just one bogey on the 12th hole. Another outstanding feature was that he scored three successive birdies on the closing three holes 16th, 17th and 18th. While the effort of Shabbir carries the inspirational touch, another tenacious one who made his presence felt was Muhammad Naeem of Peshawar. His score in the first round was gross 70, two under par. Out of the professional aspirants, the one who injected a touch of freshness was M Rehman of Royal Palm. A former amateur champion with notable performances, he has now joined the professional ranks with impressive golf playing attributes. In his first appearance as a golf professional he emerged convincingly and was placed in third position behind Shabbir and Naeem. Rehman’s score in the first round was 71, one under par. Published in Daily Times, February 23rd 2019.