Munir leads on opening day at Match Play Golf

LAHORE: Pakistan Golf Federation’s Match Play Golf Championship 2020 commenced here at the Royal Palm Golf Course on Wednesday.

This five-day event features top 25 professionals of the country who are eligible to participate based on their national ranking.

Parallel to this will run a contest between the leading amateurs of the national golf circuit. Format of this championship requires that the first two rounds will be contested on stroke play basis to be followed by a match play encounter over three days from Oct 9 to 11. While others will be weeded out after the first two rounds, only the 16 top qualifiers in the professional category and a similar number in the amateur category will be eligible for the Match Play contest.

As the first round concluded on Wednesday, Mohammad Munir of the Rawalpindi Golf Club produced brilliant performance to aggregate a score of gross 65, seven under par over 18 holes.

Another champion who exhibited his class was Mohammad Alam of Defence Raya. His round of gross 68, four-under-par reflects how well he played and the score is attributable to seven birdies on holes 3, 4, 6, 7, 12, 15 and 17 eight regulation pars and three bogies on holes 3, 13 and 14.

Others who did well include Mohammad Shabbir (Islamabad) who ended the first round with a score of gross 70 followed by Ahmed Baig (71) and Kamran Shafiq and Arif Ali, at 72.

The position amongst the amateurs stands tilted in favour of Salman Jehangir of Lahore Gymkhana. His score in the first round was a gross 74.

Another amateur with a fine performance is Gymkhana’s Qasim Ali Khan who recorded a gross 75.

Three amateurs are bracketed at a score of 77. They are Hussain Hamid (Royal Palm), Danish Javed and Mohammed Arsalan (Gymkhana).