Ashiq takes lead in National Golf

KARACHI: Lahore’s Ashiq Hussain braved windy conditions at the well-manicured DACGC course to shoot a superb score of two-under par 70 on the opening day of the 56th National Amateur Golf Championship here on Thursday.

Ashiq made four birdies on a day when most of the other golfers struggled with challenging conditions to take a healthy three-shot lead at the end of the prestigious event’s first round.Karachi’s duo of Waseem Rana, Zohaib Asif was tied for the second place with gross scores of 73. Mansoor Teli was four shots off the pace at 74 along with Sri Lanka’s Amarapadma and Pakistan team’s Ghazanfar Mehmood.

They were followed by Parvaiz Malik, Ahmed Baig, M Zubair and Sri Lanka’s duo Sajeewa Kumara and Pardeep Kumara.Making full use of familiar conditions, Sindh’s players took a one-shot lead against favourites Punjab in the Inter-provincial championship. Due to excellent rounds by Waseem Rana, Zohaib Asif and Mansoor Teli, Sindh’s main team finished day one with an aggregate of 220 ahead of Punjab’s 221.

Sindh, who have fielded four teams in the championship, also saw their other teams finishing third and fourth respectively.The four-day championship which is sponsored by JS Bank is also supported by the Sindh Golf Association (SGA).

Running concurrently with the main championship is the National Senior Championship of Pakistan. The event will serve as trials to select the national senior team for the Asia Pacific Senior Golf Tournament.

In the seniors’ event, Lahore’s Lt Col Raja Asif took a whopping seven-stroke lead with a round of 72. Placed on number two spot on the leader-board was Rawalpindi’s Shoaib Bukhari. He was followed by Brig Tahir Zahid, Secretary PGF Brig Nayyar Afzal, Lt Col Zahid Iqbal, Lt Col Waqar Ahmed and Lt Col Ajaz Ahad.The championship will conclude on Sunday.