Waheed Baloch annexes Chevron-DHA Open trophy

KARACHI: It all came down to a single putt. And in the end the experience of Waheed Baloch enabled him to pull off a sensational title-winning triumph in the Chevron-DHA Karachi Cup All Pakistan Open Golf Championship here at the Defence Authority Country and Golf Club on Sunday.

Waheed, one of the most seasoned professionals on the national circuit, began the final day of the Rs1.8 million championship trailing overnight leader Aadil Jehangir by four strokes.

After the final round’s front nine, Waheed was still lagging far behind but a stunning four-under 32 on the back nine helped the KGC pro to win the coveted crown.

The battle between Waheed and Lahore’s Aadil was very much alive till the 18th hole.

As a sizeable gallery watched, Waheed hit his approach shot on the green but still landed around 20 feet away from the hole. Hamza Amin from Islamabad attacked the green and made it to within six feet away from the cup. Waheed’s birdie putt wasn’t just long. It was uphill and the slope appeared tricky, to say the least. On a true green, Waheed just tapped it and the ball rolled finally sinking in the cup to the delight of the spectators and the player himself. Waheed who played an excellent final round of 68 ended with an aggregate of 211 (-5). In contrast, Hamza made a relatively weak putt and ended inches behind the cup. He finished at number ten after carding a round of 75.

Minutes later, the leader flight attacked the green with the two title contenders — Aadil and M Ashfaque — both needing birdies to force a playoff with Waheed. While Ashfaque landed on the green, Aadil went over it and now needed to make a seemingly tough chip-in to keep his title hopes alive. He took out his pitching-wedge and hit an excellent, low chip that went into the cup only to lip out of it. It was an agonizing moment for Aadil, who fell to the ground in dismay. Ashfaque, too, missed his birdie putt allowing Waheed to take the winner’s trophy. Aadil and Ashfaque were joint runners-up followed by Moazzam Siddique, M Tariq, Zulfiqar Ali, M. Khalid,Imran Ali Khan, M Hashmat and Hamza Amin.

In the amateurs’ category, Zubair Ahmed won the gross title with an aggregate of 220. He was followed by Waseem Rana (229) and Khalid Hussain (240). Vivek Anand won the net title with 219 ahead of Cmdr Khalid Amin (221) and Lt Col Ashar Rizwan (222).

The championship was followed by a well-attended prize distribution ceremony. Lt Gen Shahid Baig Mirza, Commander 5 Corps, was the chief guest. He gave away the prizes along with Brig Shahid Hassan Ali, Administrator DHA and Muhammad Najam Shamsuddin, Country Chairman & Area Business Manager, Chevron Pakistan Lubricants (Private) Limited. Also present at the occasion was Brig Tariq Rafique, Secretary DACGC.

Earlier, Javed Inayat claimed the senior professionals’ title while Asghar Ali was the runner-up. He was followed by Saleem Inayat, Ghani Khan and M Ilyas. Nadeem Almas reigned supreme in the junior professionals’ event.

Owais Intisar prevailed in the amateurs’ event with a gross score of 74. In the ladies event, Humera Khalid won by a huge margin after carding 83. Lt Col Zahid Iqbal, the DACGC captain, annexed the seniors’ title with a score of 81. In the veterans’ category, it was Lt Col Shahid Mehboob who reigned supreme. Ibrahim Sohail and Adil Amin won the juniors and masters trophies respectively.