Daily Times

LAHORE: The Chief of Naval Staff Amateur Golf Championship will be contested at the magnificent and challenging Royal Palm Club Golf Course here from November 25 to 27. Addressing a press conference here Wednesday, Commodore SM Shahzad, Station Commander of Pakistan Navy, said the championship had become a year older and moved into the sixth year. “And with each passing year the championship becomes a notable one for the established amateur golfers of the country,” he added. Also present on the occasion were Omer Mir, Royal Palm General Manager, Col (r) Jameel Khalid, Director Golf, and Khawaja Pervaiz Saeed, Director Media.

Shahzad boasted that the national golfers not only looked forward to participation in this illustrious event but also aimed to seek honors in terms of quality performance. “And if this performance is brilliant enough, the chance of becoming the title holder of the Chief of Naval Staff Golf Championship brightens and fetches him glory and national recognition.” Omer said that keeping in view the feelings of the national golfers of standing and importance, Pakistan Navy, steered by men of excellence like Commodore Shahzad, had devoted all their energies to make sure that the players spend memorable and delightful moments during the days of the competition. “The competitors who take part in the championship will be supported in their effort to produce rounds of quality.”

Omer further stated that to this end the organising team had ensured that the playing arena, the Royal Palm Golf Course, had all the ingredients like remarkable fairways, choicest and desirable greens, most laudable environment plus multi allied facilities for overall comfort. Khawaja Pervaiz highlighted that the players consider the Chief of Naval Staff Golf Championship as extremely beneficial to their golfing careers and an event that can give them competitive experience and a chance to compete with the best amateur golf players of the country.

Jameel explained that the competitors in the men’s category had to meet certain criteria to be eligible for participation in this national event. “To this end only the skilled ones are allowed with the significant feature being that the entrant must have a handicap of twelve and below. This restriction keeps the average golfers away and opens the doors only to the talented and established golf players.”

The seniors event is for participants in the age bracket 55 years and above and having a handicap of 14 and below. Defending champion of gross section is Imran Ahmed and in net category it is Javed A Khan. The women’s event is open to ladies with a handicap of 30 and below. Defending champion is Rimsha Ijaz in gross category and Mrs Sameea Javed Ali in net section. Juniors event is open to juniors below 18 years of age having handicap 24 and below. Defending champion of boys gross event is Ali Aanish Rehman and in net it is Danish Ataullah. The main event is for amateurs with a handicap of twelve and below. The main event for amateurs will be contested over three rounds with 18 holes to be played each day making it a total of 54 holes. M Rehman of Royal Palm was the title holder in the year 2015 and is here to defend his title. Khawaja Pervaiz stated that some leading and established names of national golf circuit who are competing for this title are Mohammad Rehman and Mohsin Zafar (Royal Palm), Tariq Mahmood (Islamabad) Ghazanfar Mehmood, Khalid Mehmood and Tashfeen Ashraf (Rawalpindi), Zulfiqar Ali and Ashiq Hussain (Multan), Salman Jehangir and Wazir Ali (Lahore Gymkhana).