ISLAMABAD, Dec 12: Tariq Mahmood and Gulraiz Shahid carded 72 gross on Friday to be the joint front-runners in the Pakistan Tobacco Company golf tournament that began at the Islamabad Club.

Following the leaders was Tariq Afridi who carded 78 on a cloudy day that created an atmosphere of relaxed competition.

Tariq carded 36 on the front nine and had an identical score while coming in. Gulraiz on the other hand had a score of 34 going out and 38 on the back nine.

Gulraiz was also ahead in the net competition with a net score of four under par 68 while Tariq Afridi was a stroke behind on net 69. Tariq Mahmood was third with net 71.

In the seniors category, Abbas H. Mirza was in the lead with a gross score of 76 followed by PQ Medhi who had gross 81. In third place was Pervez Asghar Mian on 83.

Tahira Nazir led the field in the women’s competition, finishing the day with gross 78 while in second place was Heidi Schirmer on 86.

About 150 golfers drawn from all over the country are taking part in the championship that is organised regularly by PTC.

After the first two days of the championship there will be a hole-in-one competition for which a prize money of Rs 1.5 million is being offered by PTC. The money will go to a designated charity.

The competition will be between four top golfers who hit closest to pin in the main championship, a selection to be done through calculation of distance of all shots landing near hole No. 5.

Leading scores:

Seniors gross: Abbas Mirza (76), PQ Mehdi (81), Pervez Asghar Mian (83).

Seniors net: Pervez Asghar Mian (67), PQ Mehdi (70) and Abbas Mirza (70).

The tournament events will be played over 36 holes while Sunday will be reserved for invitation-based corporate event by PTC.