Omer excels in Defence Raya Golf

LAHORE: Omer Salamat, who plays to a handicap of three, was luminous and radiant during the 18 holes and virtually took command of the Defence Raya Monthly Medal Championship at par-72 Defence Raya Golf Course on Monday.

With a display of unfaltering hitting and self assured putting on the greens Omer compiled a Commendable score of gross 74, two over par and came out on top in the gross section. Out of the other aspirants who made a mark in this event were Nasir Irshad and Jamal Nasir Khan. Nasir Irshad fetched the second gross position with a score of 76 and at third slot was Jamal Nasir Khan. A few others who came up with good rounds were Sardar Murad, Ali Hameed, Amir Chaudhry, Azfar Hassan and Dr Nasir Raza.

The conditions at the golf course were most demanding for the 62 amateur contestants who were seeking honours and acceptance as champions but as expected the talented ones got cowed down by the pressure of competition and their chances of achieving glory faded away as putting jitters took over.

In the amateur net category, players are allowed advantage of handicap and the one who ended up in glory was a Qaiser Ali Khan. Playing to a handicap of 18, Qasim had a great outing and ended the eighteen holes with a dream-like score of net 66. Two more contenders who performed superbly in the net section were Adam Khan and Ali Hameed. Adam and Ali compiled net scores of 68 each and thereby earned a place for themselves as winners. Some other good scores were recorded by Saeedul Haseeb net 69 and Zahid Ilyas net 70. Amongst the senior category performers the top one was Shafiq Bhatti with a score of gross 79.His nearest challenger was Col M. Shafi. As for the competition in net section of seniors event the one who ended up on a delightful note was Imran Amin with an impressive score of net 67. Others who ended up happy with their performances in seniors net are Najeeb Afzal net 70 and Tahir Mehmood net 71.