Shabbir leads as JA Zaman Memorial Golf begins

LAHORE: Shabbir Iqbal of Islamabad emerged as the leader in the opening round of JA Zaman Memorial Open Golf Championship at the historic Lahore Gymkhana Golf Course on Friday.

Shabbir dominated the opening day’s proceedings and flow of play with phenomenal and amazing command over his shot-making and this was reflected in his score of gross 65, seven under par.

“I succeeded in applying myself. The course was a little wet in some areas. I had to handle the shot making with skill and care and the effort paid off,” said Shabbir.In the course of the first round, Shabbir had eight birdies, nine pars, and just one bogey on the 12th hole.

Out of the 100 contestants, in search for the top positions in professionals category, another tenacious one who made his presence felt was M Naeem of Peshawar. His score in the first round was gross 70, two under par.

Out of the professional aspirants, the one who injected a touch of freshness was M Rehman of Royal Palm. In his first appearance as a professional, he emerged convincingly and was third behind Shabbir and Naeem. Rehman’s score in the first round was 71, one under par.

Following these three were M Shahzad (Garrison), Amjad Yousaf (Karachi) and Danyaal Jehangir (Lahore Gymkhana) at a score of par 72. At the score of 73 were Usman Ali (Garrison), Akber Mehroz (Lahore Gymkhana), M Akhter (Islamabad), Sajid Khan (Islamabad), Dilshad Ali (Karachi) and Waheed Baloch (Karachi).