SGA 2nd Ladies Amateur Golf Championship tees off today at KGC

KARACHI: Most of Pakistan’s leading female golfers will feature in the 2nd Sindh Golf Association (SGA) Ladies Amateur Golf Championship 2019 which tees off here at the lush green course of the Karachi Golf Club from today (Friday).

Sponsored by SGA, the three-day championship will see in action a total of 55 players from all over Pakistan. A total of 16 players from upcountry have joined a field of 39 Karachi-based players in the event.

The tournament to be played from August 2-4 is one of the annual events on the SGA calendar and is sponsored by the provincial association. The subsidiary sponsors include UMA, Bank AL Habib, Kings Group, Golootlo and others.

At a press conference held at KGC on Thursday, the organisers of the tournament shared details of the prestigious championship with representatives of the media. Asad I.A Khan, President SGA, underlined the fact that the popularity of golf was on the rise among ladies in Pakistan.

“Ladies golf is coming of age in Pakistan and SGA is seriously contemplating a ladies’ section in the SGA secretariat,” he said. Cmdre Ghazanfar Abbas, KGC’s COO, said that the club management will leave no stone unturned in their efforts to make the tournament a resounding success.

“All arrangements have been made to make the tournament a big success. The fairways and greens are in great shape and I’m sure that the visiting players will love the experience of playing at our course,” he said.

“This is a ranking match and we are trying to prepare young ladies from school and colleges to play golf and eventually compete internationally. We are thankful to President Pakistan Golf Federation (PGF) Gen Mian Hilal Hussain for his great support to ladies golf in the country,” said Tournament Director Fawzia Naqvi, also Lady Captain of KGC.

Due to heavy rains, the organisers had to work overtime to bring the KGC course in top shape for the event. “It was an unusual situation for us because of the heavy rains as it became difficult to maintain the course,” commented Rizwan Feroz, the KGC Captain. “But we have worked very hard and now the course is in great shape for the tournament,” he added.

Humera Khalid, Executive Committee member PGF said, “These associations are there to facilitate and to encourage golf among ladies at every level. We are extremely thankful to KGC for their all-out support for conducting the championship.”

There will be five different categories to be contested during the championship – category A (handicap 0-13), category B (handicap 14-24), category C (handicap 25-36), category D (seniors 60 plus) and category E (junior girls 13 and below).

The tournament committee includes Cmdre Ghazanfar Abbas, Cdr Majid Satti, Rizwan Feroz, Ahmed Ismail, Fawzia Naqvi, Humera Khalid and Durdana Soomro. Cmdre Zafar Mehmood is the chief referee. The tournament will conclude with a prize distribution ceremony on Sunday. MPA Dr Seema Yazdani will be the chief guest.