The 2nd Chief of Naval Staff Amateur Golf Championship 2012 will commence at the awesome, par-72 Royal Palm Golf and Country Club Golf Course from Thursday, 29th November and will be contested over three days with final round to be played on Saturday, 1st December 2012.
This was stated by Commodore Akbar Naqi,Station Commander,Pakistan Navy,Lahore and Chief Organiser of the Championship in a press briefing at the Royal Palm Golf Club on Wednesday.The Press Briefing was also attended and adressed by Col(r)Jameel Khalid,Tournament Director and Khawaja Pervaiz Saeed,Media Director of the Tournament.
Col(r)Jameel stated that, for the amateur golfers in the Men’s category, eligibility criteria for this championship is that only players with a handicap of twelve and below can participate and because of this feature one can foresee quality golf on all three days of the national event. He also said that the trend of quality golf was set as a bench mark in the 1st Chief of Naval Staff Golf Championship held in May 2011, when M. Rehman of Royal Palm emerged as the first title holder after showing his prowess as a golfer and as a courageous competitor.
It was also spelled out that In this Championship, by virtue of the 12 handicap restriction, only the accomplished golf players are eligible to participate and the competitors who have turned up from all the golf playing centers of the country will be at their playing best and with excellent weather and a great golf course at their beck and call, the competition is expected to be fearsome.
Some leading and established names of the national golf circuit who are competing for this title are Mohammad Rehman and Mohsin Zafar (Royal Palm), Tariq Mahmood (Pakistan Navy), Ghazanfar Mehmood, Khalid Mehmood and Idrees Nisar Tinkoo(Rawalpindi), Sajid Khan (Arabian Sea), Zulfiqar Ali and Ashiq Hussain (Multan, Imran Ahmed, Murad A. Khan and Salman Jehangir (Lahore Gymkhana).
Khawaja Pervaiz highlighted that from amongst the other known players, those who have practiced hard and look capable of causing a substantial dent in the chances of the seasoned ones are Mohsin Anwar, Omer Azim, Shafique Bhatti, Haider Attiq and Omer Khokhar and Shoaeb Shams.
He further said that ample efforts have been put in by the organizing team at Royal Palm to prepare the golf course for this occasion and during the practice rounds over the past two days the players have liked the playing conditions at the Royal Palm Golf Course, showing a lot of appreciation for features like the undulations on the fairways, the turf on the fairways which makes shot making crisp, and the condition of greens which are true and fast.
Col(r) also said that besides the main event the other events at stake are
1. Seniors Event, for participants in the age bracket 55 years and above.
2. Ladies Event
3. Juniors Event
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. Winner in this category will be awarded the title and the trophy and the victorious one will be the competitor with the best gross score. Mohammad Rehman from Royal Palm Golf & country will defend his title.
The seniors will compete over a total of 18 holes with 9 holes to be played on 29th November and 9 holes on 30 Nov. Those eligible to participate must be above 55 years and have a handicap of 14 and below. Mr Javed Khan the previous year’s winner will defend his title.Ladies contest will be over 18 holes on 30th November and criteria for handicap is 30 and below. Ghazala Yassmin last year’s winner will attempt to retain her position.
Junior’s competition will also be over 18 holes on 30th November and handicap criteria is 24 and below. Nadeem Aslam won last year.In his remarks Commodore Akbar Naqi further said that Pakistan Navy alongwith co sponsors like Zong,Coke is the sponsor of this prestigious championship and maintains and seeks to enhance its association with sports promotion and development. He also said that The Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral M. Asif Sandila, is a source of encouragement and inspiration and his endorsement of this championship makes it possible to make it an event of significance and immense importance on the national amateur golf circuit.
He further added that while Pakistan Navy sportsmen are high achievers in many sports, it certainly is proud of its golfers Tariq Mehmood and M. Shabbir Iqbal who are top performers in whichever golf championship they participate. In particular it would be appropriate to state that in professional golf circuit of Pakistan,Shabbir Iqbal is regarded as an icon. Over the years his consistency and game quality has rendered him as the unbeatable one. For us and the nation he is a hero.The first tee off on Thursday will be at 8am at the Royal Palm Golf Course and on the first day the game will conclude by3.30pm.
