LAHORE – At the end of the 36-hole stroke play net competition at the Royal Palm Golf Course, it was Saleem Raza from the Gujranwala Golf Club who succeeded in claiming the Challenge Shield Trophy. He won the trophy with scores of net 67 and net 70 in the two rounds, a winning aggregate score of net 137, seven under par, thereby distinguishing himself as one of the golfers the amateur golf circuit will have to contend with in the events to come.
The race for the team event and the individual gross title is still on, with the final round to be played today. In the Team Event, the Royal Palm A team moved ahead of the Islamabad A. Royal Palm team members M Rehman, Omer Salamat and Shoaib Bokhari played with composure and managed to upstage Islamabad for the top slot on. Royal Palm A have a two-round aggregate score of 460, followed by Islamabad A with 463, Gymkhana A 471, Gujranwala 472 and Royal Palm B 479.
The race is between Royal Palm A and the defending champions Islamabad A. In the individual gross, Taimur Hassan’s progress has been forthright. His score of 73 on the first day and a similar score on the second day gives him a chance to duplicate his victories that he achieved decades back. His strongest challenger is Saleem Raza, three strokes in arrears at a two-day aggregate of 149, followed by Nadeem Abbas 150, Muhammed Rehman 150, Raheel Ikram 152, Wazir Ali 153, Tariq Mehmood 153, Shoaib Bokhari 155, Omer Salamat 155, and Ashfaq Lone 155.
