KARACHI: Starting from a peanut purse of Rs0.5 million in 1995 and rising to a bumper Rs 7 million event, the UMA 22nd Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) Open Golf Championship has grew in magnitude over the last two decades and has been a most sought after golfing event of the Pakistan golf calendar.

Rs6.5 million will be disbursed among the top 40 pros of the event while the remaining Rs0.5 million has been reserved for special match for the KGC caddies and semi-pros thus marking a substantial raise of Rs0.5 million then last year.

According to organisers, the exclusive purse is besides the two brand new cars – Toyotta Fortuner for the first Hole-in-One and a Suzuki Ciaz for the second Hole-in-One by any participant.

The details of the richest-ever golf competition of the country were announced by Commander Karachi Rear Admiral Ather Mukhtar at a press conference held at the lush green lawns of the Karachi Golf Club (KGC) on Thursday.

The 72-hole main event is slated to take place from Aug 17 to 20.

Similarly, the 72-hole amateurs event will run concurrently. Other subsidiary events will also take place alongside.

Commanding Officer PNS Bahadur Cdre Saqib Jamil Khattak gave a resume of the event and said befitting arrangements have been made to make the competition a success.

Chief Executive Officer of the United Marine Agencies (UMA) Sohail Shams, who is himself an avid golfer, reiterated that his company will continue to support the game in future also.

He added that this is the ninth successive year of UMA’s association with the CNS golf as title sponsor. “Our country has given us so much and now it’s time to repay the debt,” he remarked.

The Chief Operating Officer of the KGC retired Cdre Ghazanfar Abbas and the KGC Captain Bilal Muneer were also present.

At the outset, the Comkar formally inaugurated the championship and also played a shot.

Matloob Ahmed of the Lahore Garrison Golf Club will defend his title in the open category. He returned with 12 under 276 to win the crown by four shots over noted golfer Shabbir Iqbal who aggregated eight under 280.

M. Sharif won the amateurs crown.

Almost all the top golfers of the country are already in town to prove their mettle. Shabbir had already captured the 19th Sindh Open at the Arabian Sea Country Club last weekend.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2017