Inter Club Golf kicks off tomorrow

The Inter Club Golf Event between a 26 member Lahore Gymkhana Golf team and an equivalent strength Royal Palm Golf team will tee off on Sunday,31st March at the par-72, Lahore Gymkhana Golf Course at 9 am through a shot gun start. Competition will take place  over 1 8holes.

Teams comprise of 12 players in the handicap category 0-9 and 12 players in handicap category 10-18,plus there will a match between the officials of the two clubs.Gymkhana will be represented by its captain,Amer Mehmood and Chairman Salman Siddique and they will face the Royal Palm captain Lt Gen (r) M. Tariq and CEO Ramzan Sheikh.

Tournament format is similar to what is practiced in the universally known Ryder Cup between Europe and America. In this championship, the two teams will engage each other in  four ball match play competition, and simultaneously  singles contests.Points at stake will be 26 in four ball matches and 26 in singles competition,aggregating a total of 52 points.The team that accumulates 26.5 points and above will be the winner of the prestigious contest between two leading golf clubs of the country.

Whereas Gymkhana boasts of some quality players like Ahmed Zafar Hayat, Javed A.Khan, Shafique Bhatti, Sameer Iftikhar, Mohsin Anwar and Zulfiqar Rana complemented by other talented ones,the  Royal Palm team is depending on the prowess of Mohsen Zafar,Omer Salamat,Faisal Sayed, Mir Maaz, Col (r) Jameel Khalid and Sardar Murad. The other team members will also have a significant role to play,

The competing pairs are:( Gymkhana names first); Shahid A.Khan & Taimur Shabbir vs Mahad Zafar & Abbas Ali Khan; Ahmed Zafar Hayat & Javed A. Khan vs Mohsen Zafar & Hussain Hamid; M. Shafique Bhatti & Shakeel Ahmed vs Omer Salamat & Faisal Sayed; Sameer Iftikhar & Mohsin Anwar vs Mir Maaz Mehmood & Col (r) Jameel Khalid; Qayum Rashid & Zulfiqar Rana vs Azfar Hassan & Faisal Ali Malik; Nasir Irshad & Dr Arshad Mahmood vs Sardar Murad Khan & Raza Ali Khan; Mohammad Ahad Naeem & Dr Dildar Hussain vs Imran F. Mian & Abdul Salam Nazir; Qasim Riaz & Hamid Aziz Sethi vs Imran Miraj & Imran Zafar; Khurshid Aziz & Dr Khurram Saadat vs Hamid Sharif & Asim Tiwana; Omar Zia & Asad Abbas vs Hamayun Mian & Dr Nasrullah; Tariq Misbah & Ahmad Khalid vs Haroon Arshad & Farid Malik; Karamatullah Chaudry & Asad Niaz vs Abdullah Sharif & Waqar Butt; Amer Mehmood & Salman Siddique vs Lt Gen (r) Muhammad Tariq & Ramzan Sheikh.

Competition is likely to be sharp edged with some matches bound to produce quality golf.

Great care has been taken to prepare the Gymkhana Golf Course appropriately for this occasion and some of the greens look exotic. Fairways are scenic and their condition is supportive to shot making.