Matloob Ahmed leads on first day of Rashid D. Habib Memorial National Professional Golf

By
Faizan Lakhani
|

KARACHI: The first round of Bank Al Habib’s eight Rashid D. Habib Memorial National Professional Golf Championship was held at Karachi Golf Course on Thursday. Matloob Ahmed of Lahore Gymkhana leads on first day with 65-7 under par.

Islamabad's Hamza Amin is runner-up today with 66-6 under par while Waheed Baloch of KGC follows him with 68-4 under par. Last year’s defending champion Muhammad Shabbir Iqbal holds seventh position with 69- 3 under par.

The golfers, hailing from all over Pakistan, played in cloudy weather with clear visibility. The course is in excellent condition where the players despite wind were able to attack the pin because of hold on the greens. The pin placement by the organisers was however felt tough.

This year, the main tournament will be played over 72 Holes from January 10 to 13, with cutover final two days as per Pakistan Golf Federation’s (PGF) rules. The senior national professionals and junior professionals will also be playing in their respective categories concurrently.

As before, appearance money amounting to Rs500,000 will be distributed among top five golfers of Pakistan. The golfers also have three more days to call their lady luck and put a hole-in-one for taking Bank Al Habib’s brand new 1300cc car.

The final round will be played on Sunday.