Sameer Iftikhar earned glory in the first World Call Golf Tournament contested at the par 72 Defence Raya Golf Course, creation of which is a miracle as it is created out of plunging topography and now shows up with a huge expanse of green and water features cut into undulating fairways, providing golf competitors a test of their playing skills. And in this World Call Tournament, participants with aspirations were as many as 96, but none as good as Sameer who revelled in this competition by returning a very steady round of 2 over par 74, carding similar scores of 37 on the front nine and 37 on the back nine.
Along the way he did lose strokes on holes 7, 11, 15 and 18 but birdies in between on holes 5 and 12 balanced the winning tilt. While other keen competitors of the gross section groaned under the weight of errors, Col (retd) Asif Mehdi found his way to the runners-up slot, his card of gross 80 not to his liking but good enough to land him in the runners up slot. Defence Raya had an event for the members also and the front runner in this category turned out to be Dr. Dildar Hussain who picked up the first gross prize with a round of gross 81 followed by Maj Gen Tariq Masood, who ended up with the runners up award. From amongst the eager ones seeking honours in net category, Maj Ahtisham gave a boost to his golfing aspirations by walking off with the net trophy and getting cheered heartily.
Runners up net winner was Adyan Lone. Others who emerged as successful ones were Waheed Aslam (nearest to the pin), Hashim Raja (longest drive), Mrs. Brig Sajjad Bakhshi (ladies putting) and Mahin Noor (girls putting).
Perhaps the success story of the day was the golf course itself as compliments poured in from all competitors including one from a lady golfer Abeeda Salam who considered the golf course an inspiration compelling her to play and play. And on hand were Brig Shahid Wahab Rao and Col Saqib Mehmmod to acknowledge the good words and promised that this golf course would continue to reflect excellence and be an arena for international events. At the conclusion of the tournament the prizes to top performers were awarded by Amir Mehmood, Commercial Chief of World Call in a grand prize distribution ceremony.
