National amateur golf begins tomorrow

The 55th National Amateur Golf Championships begin at the Defence Raya Golf and Country Club course Lahore on Thursday.

Golfers from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Iran have reached the Defence Raya Golf Course and are currently practicing to increase their awareness of the golf course contours.

Only players with a handicap of seven and below can participate in the four-day event. Some prominent golfers confirmed to participate are Ghazanfar Mehmood (Rawalpindi), Taimoor Khan (Peshawar), Mohammad Waseem Rana (DHA, Karachi), Zohaib Asif (DHA, Karachi), Mohammed Rehman (Royal Palm),Sajid Khan (Arabian Sea, Karachi),Khalid Mehmood (Rawalpindi), Nadeem Aslam(Lahore Garrison), Robin Bagh (Mianwali) and Tariq Mehmood(Margalla Greens).

Besides, upcoming players participating are Wazir Ali, Mohsen Zafar, Salman Jehangir, Taimur Shabbir, Fakhar Imam and Waleed Zubair.

Afghanistan ‘A’ team comprises Noor Ahmed Fazel and Abdel Waheed Sarwari while Afghanistan ‘B’ team consists of Mohammed Nadir Mehfooz and Shamsuddin with Mehboob Shah Qazizada being the captain while Abdul Mahboob Serwari is delegate.

The Iranian team is represented by Farhad Baharvand (captain), Reza Pour Hosseni and Hossein Shahivandi as playing members with the Bangladeshi team comprising Mohd Obaidul Haque(captain), Mohammed Farhad and Mohammed Rasel as players.

Pakistan ‘A’ team comprises Ghazanfar Mehmood and Ahmed Baig while Pakistan ‘B’ team is competing with Ashiq Hussain and Nadeem Aslam.

The events at stake are men’s national champions title, ladies national champion title, international team match and inter-association team match.

In the race for the inter-association team title, the contenders are the Sindh ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams captained by Asad I. A. Khan. Other provincial teams are Punjab ‘A’ and Punjab ‘B’, the Federal Team from Islamabad captained by retired Wing Cmdr I. N. Khokhar with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa team being another participant team.

Amongst the ladies, the prominent contenders are Shahzadi Gulfam of Punjab Police, Maryama Khan of Lahore Gymkhna, Mrs Tahira Nazir from Rawalpindi and Ghazala Yasmin.

(Source: Dawn News)