A feast of strokemaking will be the the order of the occasion as 70 top golf professionals of the country converge to the new, par 72, Defence Raya Golf Course in Lahore and fight it out,for honors and cash, over the next three days from Wednesday to Friday,18holes each day aggregating to a total of 54 holes.And the occasion is the 1st Sayid Paper Open Golf Tournament, on a challenging golf course that adequately measures upto international standards and is as good as any in Asia,and the competition will establish the golfer to envy in the country.
This three days,54 holes contest pitches the young ones of ability against the champions of immense calibre and reputation,and for those seeking to emerge as the frontrunners,it is the consistency to bear the pressure well throughout the 54 holes,that will count.On course will be Shabbir Iqbal,the top ranked golfer of Pakistan alongwith Matloob Ahmed who is ranked just one position behind and both of them have proved to be ruthless head to head combatants with ample ability to intimidate any opposition.
They have the expertise to hit long off the tee with a short game that can easily be classified in the category of excellence.To provoke and confront them will be contenders like Muhammed Akram,Muhammed Siddique,Talib Hussain,Imdad Hussain,Tahir Nasim and Shahid Javed Khan who would endeavour to translate their potency and strength into a repeat of achievements attained in other championships over the years.
Amongst the gentlemen professionals are Aadil Jehangir,Danyaal Jehangir and Aleemur Rehman and while Aadil has matured and has some noteworthy performances in his basket,Danyaal and Aleem have still to find their bearings in the professional circuit.Hopefully this championship might set the bearings towards impressive performances and most decent golf scores.
A significant feature of this championship is that it has been managed by the team of professionals themselves led by Talat Ijaz,who has suceeded in luring sponsors and set up a long term understanding with golf course managements and the managerial touch looks commendable indeed.That seems to be in line with professional golfers demands that they should be allowed to look after their own affairs,in line with practices prevalent in other golf playing countries of Asia and Europe and USA.Faisal Syed of Sayid Paper Mills will perform the opening ceremony at 9pm at the Defence Raya Golf Course.
