LAHORE - Young sensation Ahmed Baig of Lahore Garrison emerged as title winner in the 21st New Jubilee Sind Open Golf Championship, which came to a stimulating conclusion on Sunday at the Arabian Sea Golf Club Golf Course, Karachi.
During the course of the three competitive rounds at the admirable and commendable Arabian Sea Golf Course, Ahmed has given a splendid and pulsating display of golfing skills that impressed even his adversaries. Driving off the tees was powerful and accurate and his approach shots to the green were classy and most of the time they landed within five to six feet of the hole.
Ahmed’s victory came through scores of 67 in the first round, 66 in the second round, 67 and another 67 on the final day on Sunday and his aggregate winning score was 200, sixteen under par. He thanked the Pakistan Golf Federation President Lt Gen (r) Hilal Hussain for showing confidence in him and awarding him the professional tour card.
“Karachi has been beneficial for me,” said Ahmed and added: “What makes the occasion memorable is that I have won the first professional golf title ever since I gained entry to the Professional Golf Tour of Pakistan. Undoubtedly, I was nervous when I teed off on the first day, but with every shot, I gained confidence and the urge to win stayed strong.”
His competing mates in the event included the mighty ones of the national golf scene like indomitable Shabbir Iqbal, elegant Matloob Ahmed and powerful M Munir. Through total excellence and display of extraordinary hitting control and application of golfing skills, Ahmed remained relentless. Matloob Ahmed made a determined effort but in the ultimate reckoning, he had to be content with the runners-up slot. He lost the race to Ahmed by a margin of five strokes. While Ahmed had a three days aggregate score of 200, sixteen under par, Matloob aggregated a score of 205, eleven under par.
Other top performers were Shabbir Iqbal of Islamabad with a three days score of 68, 71 and 69 with an aggregate of 208, eight under par. By virtue of this, he secured the third position. Shahid Javed Khan of Gymkhana came fourth with a score of 209, seven under par, certainly a wonderful performance but only fetched him the fourth slot. Another one, who ended the championship at a score of 209, was M Tariq of Islamabad. A few more, who did well, were Waheed Baloch (Karachi Golf Club) with a score of 210, Amjad Yousaf (MGGC) 212 and Khalid Khan (KP) 212.
In amateur section, Ghazanfar Mehmood (GCGC) earned the first position. His score for the three days was 72, 73 and 74 and an overall aggregate of 219. The second position was attained by M Sharif (WWGC) and Zohaib Asif (DHA, Karachi) came third. In junior amateur category, the winners were Saad Habib (first) and Mikyal Majid (second).
Jubilee Insurance Chairman Taufeeq A Chinoy graced the prize distribution ceremony as chief guest and gave away prizes to the winners in a grand ceremony attended by Arabian Sea Golf Club CEO Arif Ali Khan Abbasi, Sind Golf Association President Asad IA Khan and players and their families.
