LAHORE - Pakistan won the JR Jaywardene Golf Trophy in the 59th National Amateur Golf 2020 at the Islamabad Golf Course on Friday.
After the first round was lost to rain on Thursday and the championship had to be reduced to three rounds from four rounds of competitive golfing, the first round brought refreshing news for Pakistan as the two-member Pakistani golf team comprising of Taimoor Khan and Zohaib Asif prevailed over the two-member Sri Lankan team consisting of Punith De Silva and Udesh Perera.
Score wise Taimoor Khan had a round of gross 73 while Zohaib Asif came up with a round of 75 giving the Pakistani team an aggregate score of 148 as against the Sri Lankan team score of aggregate 156. The margin of victory for Pakistan was eight strokes.
In the race for honors in the men’s individual category, after the completion of the first 18 holes in this national title bearing championship, hosted by the Pakistan Golf Federation (PGF), Ghazanfar Mehmood of Garden City Golf Club played reliable and steadfast golf to set the tempo. His opening round score was a laudable par 72 and this represented the best performance of the day out of 77 other fancied aspirants, some of whom found their hopes battered and dashed as inaccurate shot making resulted in disappointing scores.
Although Ghazanfar appears as the leader with a round of gross 72, he finds the challenge from at least two rivals a bit too intense .The defending champion Taimoor Khan is placed one stroke behind at a score of gross 73 and also at 73 is the seasoned Tariq Mehmood of Federal Golf Association. A few more who can be categorised as passionate and implanted with the capacity of competing fiercely are Zubair Hussain of Federal Golf Association, Zohaib Asif, who is a part of the national golf team, Raya Israr of Islamabad and then there is also Udesh Perera of Sri Lanka. Zubair is placed fourth at a score of 74 followed by Zohaib Asif at 75, Raja Israr at 76 and Udesh also at 76. No doubt all these contenders can be regarded as deft and masterful golfers and possessing the capacity to add to their first rounds fulfilling scores through a display of rewarding excellence in the remaining two rounds.
In the Inter Provincial Team Match, the Federal Golf Association Team came out as the notable one as their players Umer Khokher, Raja Israr, Tariq Mehmood and Zubair Hussain aggregated a team score of 223 giving them a huge lead of sixteen strokes over the KP Golf Association Team.