Faldo, McDowell, Cabrera: Bello to feature in Rumanza Inaugural

KARACHI: Golf in Pakistan is set to take a giant stride forward later this month when some of world golf’s biggest names headlined by British legend Sir Nick Faldo will land here to celebrate the opening of what is the country’s first signature championship course.

Faldo, a six-time Major winner, who has designed the stunning Rumanza Golf and Country Club in the outskirts of Multan, is coming to Pakistan along with several PGA and LPGA stars.

Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell, who won the 2010 US Open, leads a list of stars who will tee off in a couple of competitions lined up from February 25-27 to mark the soft opening of the 18-hole Rumanza Golf Club.

McDowell will be joined by Spanish star Rafa Cabrera Bello, a four-time DP World Tour winner. Leading international ladies champion Charley Hull and Mel Reid from England will also provide star attraction during the three-day festivities.

The international stars will be joined by some of the top professionals and amateurs of Pakistan in a Pro-Am tournament which will mark the opening of what is the region’s first pure sand course.

Owned by DHA Multan, Rumanza has grand plans for the future that include hosting international Tour events and a world class academy. It will all begin with the star-studded inaugural weekend at the end of February. There will be an 18-hole Pro-Am competition, a clinic by international stars for local youth, a Challenge Match Play contest and a musical gala.

The Challenge Match Play will be held on an innovative 6-player format over 18 holes. Playing in mixed gender teams of two, three teams will play in an exciting alternate shot, strokeplay format, with the lowest-score team over 18 holes being crowned champions. The visiting stars on the international celebrity list are excited about their first visit to Pakistan.

“I’m really looking forward to playing in the Rumanza Inaugural. Pakistan is a part of the world that I haven’t had a chance to visit - so while I’m of course looking forward to playing the new Faldo course, I’m equally excited to find out more about the local culture,” said Charley Hull.

“The Challenge Match Play format will be a lot of fun as well. Golf is really starting to boom with female participation, so I love the idea of playing in a mixed gender format. I hope that it inspires young Pakistani girls to give golf a try,” she added.

Though it is yet to open, Rumanza has already created quite a stir in the fast growing Pakistani golf community. “It’s an incredible course,” Hamza Amin, a top Pakistani professional, told ‘The News’.

Hamza, who is the son of legendary golfer Taimur Hassan, currently Chairman of the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC), believes Rumanza will put Pakistan on the world map as an international golfing destination.

Omar Khalid, currently one of Pakistan’s top amateurs, agreed. “I’ve played at around 20 courses in Pakistan but I haven’t experienced such a stunning course. Rumanza is long, challenging and has some stunning holes. I’m really looking forward to playing on it,” said Omar, who recently visited Rumanza.

Meanwhile, Faldo, who signed the Rumanza agreement in 2018 and took a personal interest in its establishment, is pleased with the final outcome.

“My design philosophy has a couple of important points. First of all, of course, [is] playability,” Faldo was quoted as saying in an interview. “We quite possibly will have golfers playing their very first round of golf at Rumanza so I would strongly suggest a lesson or two and maybe a little bit of practice will help set you up for the day. But the important thing is the golf course will be very accessible for any level of golfer.

“The better golfers, we want to teach them the importance of strategy and choice-making on the golf course. And then [secondly], there’s memorability. Each hole will have its own design, its own style and maybe its own character and if you’ve played a couple of them really well, hopefully you leave with some great memories.”

The 7533-yard par-72 Rumanza course features four lakes, 49 “eco” bunkers with sandy, wetland and woodland zones. It is surrounded by hundreds of orange and mango trees, making it look like a perfect oasis in an otherwise desert-like terrain.

“We have some fantastic, especially designed eco bunkers that will look amazing at sunrise and at sunset and we have four large lakes that will feature a gradually revealing peninsula. I do feel our landscape artwork in creating these lakes really will add to your visual enjoyment of the golf course,” Faldo commented.

The designers of Rumanza course say that it has been built with 100 percent local material. However, the sand has been dressed with Platinum TE paspalum grass to “ensure speed and precision”. Paspalum grass can flourish even in hot climate areas like Multan.