In the two rounds Royal Palm Annual Golf Championship in progress at the character-loaded Royal Palm Golf Course, the star of the occasion at the end of the first round was Sardar Murad who showed composure and class by performing like a champion.
Never straying from the fairways, Murad hit accuracy-oriented tee shots and making phenomenal putts that fetched him a good looking score of gross 71, one under par. All through the first round the pars came with consistent regularity nine of them virtually coming in a sequence on holes 2 to 11 with the exception of the 5th hole which he birdied.
Thereafter there was again a pause from the par blitz, with a break on the 12th hole which was birdied.
Another pause on the 14th hole was not too likeable as it turned out to be a disaster, the double bogie slightly offsetting the excellence in play. This double bogie however did not upset his victory march as he parred the closing holes, the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th. A wonderful end to a day’s effort and the first round score of gross 71, making him a front-runner.
Other strong contenders in the race for the champions crown are Mohsen Zafar and Omer Salamat. Mohsen too had a great day, the champions touch very visible during the first round. Fourteen pars, two birdies were the outstanding features of his round of gross 73, the negative ones being a bogie on the 1st hole and a double bogie on the 3rd hole. Mohsen seeks to put up a strong challenge in the final round on Sunday and make a real match of it against Sardar Murad and Omer. As for Omer Salamat, he played steady golf, his round of gross 75 studded with 13 pars, one birdie and four rather disappointing bogies which put him a little away from the leader. Amongst the other performers in gross section Amir Mehmood is at 77, followed by Abbas Ali Khan at 78 and the defending champion Shahid Abbas Awan at 81. The battle is on for supremacy.
In the contest for Captains Cup, right up front is Max Babri more well-known for his counselling sessions with the cricket team and now applying the temperament counselling on his own game. Taking full advantage of his 16 handicap, he played well-enough to end the first round with a match winners score of net 67, five under par and as Max said: “I owe this score to some phenomenal putts, with all the six to seven footers falling into the hole at the touch of my putting stroke.” In this net category too Sardar Murad is looking good with a score of net 67, followed by Mohsen at net 68, Dr.Nasrullah at net 70, Hamid Sharif at net 71, Tajjamal Hussain at net 71, Abbas Ali at net 71 and Amir Mehmood at net 72.
In this championship two girls Nushmiya Sukhera and Kashifa Zafar managed to create history by competing against the men competitors and teeing of from the men’s tee. This certainly requires courage and they enjoyed competing against better players. This championship will conclude on Sunday.
