In the three days Alfalah Bank sponsored 31st Punjab Open Golf Championship, contested at the Gujranwala Golf and Country Club, par 72 golf course, Shabbir Iqbal of Navy emerged as the top player of this title bearing event with three days excellent scores of 69, 70 and 70 and an overall aggregate of 7 under par 209. The competition was fierce indeed and although Shabbir retained the title, he faced stiff challenge from Asher Masih of Lahore Gymkhana and Afsar Ali of Karachi Golf Club. Shabbir Iqbal, who is a dominant force in Pakistan’s professional golf circuit and continues to win major events at will, was two strokes behind the leader Waheed Baloch at the start of the final round and apparent were determination and urge to intercept his leap to’ title retention’ in the stance of quite a few close challengers.
Waheed Baloch was virtually staring at him and in the background players like Akram and Munir had strategised and prepared game plans to upset his winning advance but the moment Shabbir Iqbal teed off, all the others seemed to cloud away. Not that five of his nearest challengers, in any way, were unimpressive, it was just that Shabbir was just too steady. Each tee shot was hit with accuracy on the par fours and fives and bogies and the possibility of stroke losses were kept at a remote distance. The birdies were registered on holes 3, 7 and 18, regulation pars of a classy kind on 14 holes and the rare stroke loss came on hole number 8 where the rarest of things happened when his tee shot landed and got stuck in a tree.
In the heat of the competition Waheed Baloch faded away but compliments to Asher Masih of Lahore Gymkhana and Afsar Ali of Karachi who kept the temperature warm enough to make Shabbir feel the heat of the competition till the final closing moments of the championship. Asher demonstrated excellence in hitting and excellence in the score of the final day playing superbly with a round of four under par 68, with birdies on holes 2, 6 and 8 on the inner half and birdies on holes 12 and 18 on the outer half and one bogie on the 4th hole. Inspite of his wonderful effort Asher had to be content with the runners up position, two strokes behind the leader, the best position he has attained so far in his professional golf career. Afsar Ali ended in third position with scores of 71, 71 and 70 and total of 212, four under par.
Compliments to Bank Alfalah for putting up a prize money of Rs 0.75 million with the top one getting 219, 000 and others getting prizes in accordance with schedule laid down by international golf bodies. A feature that deserves a mention here is that professionals like Shahid Javed Khan, Aadil Jehangir and Shafiq Masih who are currently playing in the MENA Golf Tour in Dubai were certainly missed. In the amateur gross section the best player was Khalid Mehmood of Rawalpindi Golf Club and in the amateur net Wazir Ali of Royal Palm Golf Club was the outstanding one. This youngster from Royal Palm is blossoming into a golfing force. As for ladies section Mrs Tahir Nazir won the best gross and Mrs Asma Shami won the best net. At the conclusion of the event, Gen. Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani graced the occasion and awarded prizes to the top performers.
The top ten: Shabbir Iqbal (Navy) 69+70+70=209; Asher Masih (Gymkhana) 69+74+68=211; Afsar Ali (Karachi) 71+71+70=212; Muhammed Akram (Gymkhana) 74+69+70=213; Muhammed Munir (ISD) 69+73+71=213; Amjad Yousaf (Karachi) 72+69+72=213; Waheed Baloch (Karachi) 70+67+76=213; Shahid Hanif (Gymkhana) 72+70+72=214; Imdad Hussain (Garrison) 72+69+75=216