Daily Times

RAWALPINDI: The 47th Pakistan Open Golf Championship, endorsed and supported by the Pakistan Golf Federation, will be contested at the alluring Rawalpindi Golf Club Golf Course here from Thursday (today). And for the next four days, the leading professional players of the country will be engaged in a combat for supremacy. At stake is the national golf title for the year 2020 and the PGF has offered prize money of Rs.5million for the aspirants who attain top forty positions. A major chunk of this will go to the title winning champion plus a glittering trophy. Besides the race for the Pakistan champion title, also in the competition will be the senior and junior professionals. The participants in the senior category, seeking to emerge ahead of rivals and be declared the senior section title winner, may be playing as seniors but they have been champions in the past and though the energy might have alleviated a little, the urge to demonstrate skillful golf shots is very much manifest. As for the junior professionals, this championship propounds an occasion to unveil their potential, talent and flair and realize acceptance as the upcoming professionals possessing a knack for brilliance in a year or two.

The amateur golfers are also part of the event and will be pursuing their quest for the top positions in gross category. The mere fact that they have earned the right to compete is a big honour as eligibility has been restricted to amateurs who play to a handicap of five and below. The glowing news from this angle is that there is enough talent available in this segment and the eligible amateurs are all charged up to stand out as caliber loaded golfers.

If we recall the history of earlier years, the first Pakistan Open was held in the year 1961, the victorious one in the inaugural event was Aameen Taqi Butt. In the succeeding year the iconic Mehmood Hussain took over and he won the prestigious title for four years in a row and again in 1973. Thereafter, we had title holders who achieved this honour for a year or two and then came along the highly acclaimed Ghulam Nabi. He turned out to be a giant of a player and won the title six times in the years 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1991 and 1997.

The roll call of winners in the past decade has revolved around Shabbir Iqbal, Muhammad Munir and Muhammad Matloob. Somehow these masterly ones seem to have become invincible and completely dominated the golf arena of Pakistan. For Pakistan golf they have represented a bright spot and have shown appetite for winning as well as prowess and competence. Out of the young emerging ones, Hamza Amin represents a huge prospect from whom more gallantry and valor is expected. Another one is Ahmed Baig. He has to establish his ascendancy and sweep aside the established ones.