LAHORE Entry for the Royal Palm National Golf Championship looks pretty strong - though the foreign champions are missing - as our youngsters have played brilliantly during the first round of this four-day event to light up the national championship that teed off at the captivating Royal Palm Golf Course. Ali Hai, who achieved success in the recently held Bangladesh Amateur Golf Championship in Chittagong where he was declared the Bangladesh title holder, looks all set to add the national amateur title to his collection by outplaying the other leading lights of this championship, as is evident from the way he played in the opening round. During the first round, he produced a card of gross 69, loaded with five birdies and 11 pars and the stroke losses were on two holes only, with one coming on the opening hole where he missed a two footer. All through the opening 18 holes, the hitting was as per text booking with no shot going astray and the approach shots on 16 holes landed within four feet of the flagstick. It was a great day, he said and added: My driver behaved excellently and the putting never let me down. Out of a field of 80, a few others who look formidable are Hamza Amin, Muhammad Safdar and Taimur Hassan. Hamza Amin made ample headway on the first day with a round of gross 70, two under par and along with Muhammad Safdar is breathing down Ali Hais neck. Hamza looks in superb form and except a minor blemish on the 18th hole he demonstrated control and exceptional play, his card of the day studded with three birdies and fourteen pars. Safdar too was equally adept and looked determined to look after the title that he is defending. Another hero of the first day is Taimur Hassan, a 17 times titleholder and once again he played as if he is in a mood to excel over the boys. With three days remaining, one can expect a big surprise. In the individual category also noticeable are the performances of players like Sufiyan Rashid, 74, Nadeen Abbas 74, and Sajid Khan 75. A few participants in the teens group also impressed with the progress made in sharpening their skills. These boys are Salman Jehangir, Haider Attique, Idrees Nisar and Saif Hassan. In the Inter-Provincial team match, the team upfront is Sindh comprising Ali Hai, Sufian Rashid, Waseem Rana and Sajid Khan. The teams aggregate score on the first day is 218. Following them is the federal team with score of 219. Members of the federal team are Taimur Hassan, Tariq Mehmood, Hamza Amin and Mehmood Aziz. Punjab Team is placed third at a score of 235. The ladies event will start today (Friday).