Karachi win 6th Royal Palm Golf Team Championship

Staff Report

LAHORE: Karachi Golf Club won the 6th Royal Palm Golf Team Championship that concluded at the Royal Palm Club Golf Course here on Sunday. The winners managed to gain an advantage over Royal Palm by a one-stroke margin. All through the final day the fight was cut throat and not for a moment did one team look better than the other. For Royal Palm, Mohammad Rehman excelled on every shot and by virtue of consistent pars ended the round with a score of par 72, giving his side a lot of hope and optimism. His teammate Sardar Murad was effective too and played with ample maturity but somehow luck was not in his favour and bogied the 18th hole to tilt the result Karachi’s way.

A rather agonising end for him after three rounds of quality play that somehow did not conclude on a winning note. That, however, should not take the credit away from Karachi’s performance as their star player Ali Hai ably led the effort and did not relent at any stage and as his three rounds scores indicate he was outstanding in his contribution to Karachi’s success. Scores of 72,73 and 72 are reflective of a champions touch.

Others who contributed to Karachi’s win were Mansoor Teli and Asif Ahmed. And in this contest Karachi and Royal Palm teams looked a bit too superior as compared to the other teams and although Rawalpindi Golf Club came third they lost to Royal Palm by a margin of 22 strokes.

The gross honours in individual category fell in the welcoming lap of Ali Hai, the top amateur golfer of the country. Once again he showed his ability and the pars and birdies came in regular succession with bogies too infrequent which highlights his control over the competition. Ali Hai ended up winning the first gross with three rounds scores of 72,73 and 72, a total of 217, one over par. Mohammad Rehman of Royal Palm came second with three rounds scores of 76, 75 and 76 and an aggregate of 223, seven over par. Ghazanfar Mahmood of Rawalpindi came third with scores of 76, 75 and 74 and an aggregate of 225, nine over par.

Other notable contenders who performed well were Sardar Murad (Royal Palm) 225, Mansoor Teli (Karachi) 233, Asif Ahmed (Karachi) 235, Mohsen Zafar (Royal Palm) 236, Omer Khokher (Islamabad) 237, Robin Bagh (Sargodah) 238 and Omer Salamat (Royal Palm) 238.

On this occasion the winning team was all praise for the match organistion by Jamil Khalid and chief referee Iftikhar Taj Mian. In the women’s competition Tehmina Rashid was the best one in ladies net event and grabbed the first net. Nushmiya Sukhera did hit the shots accurately enough but had to be content with the second net prize. Another teenage golfer Maryamma Khan came third. In the women’s gross, the winner was Ghazala Yasmin, Ami Qin second and Sameea Javed Ali third.

As for the Challenge Shield, the winner was Hamid Sharif. Sardar Murad won the runners-up prize and Mohammed Hassan Saeed came third. And in the invitational category, the winners in net were Omer Malik, nearest to the pin, longest drive, Sameer Iftikhar, most accurate drive, Shahryar Ahmed, 3rd net winner, Omer Malik, 2nd net Tariq Pervez, 1st net, Naseer Akhter, 3rd gross, Hamid Sharif, 2nd gross Usman Saleem, 1st gross Sameer Iftikhar. At the conclusion of the championship the prizes were awarded to the winners by Omer Malik and Ramzan Sheikh.

Team positions:

Karachi Golf Club 1st with score of 685

Royal Palm Club 2nd with score of 686

Rawalpindi Golf 3rd with score of 708

Sargodah Golf Club 4th with score of 721

Gymkhana Golf Club 6th with score of 726

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