ISLAMABAD, Oct 9: President of Pakistan Gold Medal Golf Championship 2008 will be played over 54 holes at the Islamabad Golf Club (IGC) from Friday to Sunday.

Addressing a press conference here at the IGC on Thursday, Zahid Arbab, captain of the club, said the championship was instituted in 1981 and since then it has been the main feature of the IGC.

Arbab further said that prize money for the professionals has been raised from Rs350,000 to Rs500,000.

Regarding categories of the championship he said all the categories (amateurs, senior amateurs, ladies, juniors, professionals, senior professionals) have been included in the championship.

Arbab further said that the gold medal event will be for the professionals, amateurs having handicap (0 to 12 only) and ladies.

About the subsidiary events he said it included senior professionals, senior amateurs, amateurs having handicap 13 to 18 and boys.

The defending champions are Shabbir Iqbal (professionals category), Ejaz Hussain Qureshi (amateurs category) and Ami Qin (ladies category).

Registered number of entries for various categories:

Professionals (79), Senior Professionals (17), Amateurs (76), Senior Amateurs (36), Ladies (16), Juniors (15).