KARACHI: Finally, a time to rejoice. An international golfing festival is about to begin. And it’s brought along a lot of hopes and expectations.

The mood at the Karachi Golf Club on Wednesday was a depiction of that, flush with joy and anticipation on the eve of the UMA-CNS Open Asian Tour Golf Championship which marks the return of international golf to the country after 11 long years.

“It’s a long time indeed,” the chief operating officer of the Asian Tour Cho Minn Thant told Dawn on the sidelines of the launch press conference of the tournament.

“A lot has happened since we were last here,” he added referring to the Pakistan Open in 2007, the last Asian Tour event held in the country before the 2008 edition was cancelled due to security reasons.

“Local golf has developed over the last decade or so and it would be nice to see the Pakistani golfers in action against the 61 foreign golfers taking part in the event.”

Key to developing the local golfers further and making them competitive in international events, however, would require the Asian Tour making Pakistan a regular feature on its calendar.

“We haven’t seen Pakistani golfers come and play on the Asian Tour,” said Cho. “We want to see more Pakistani golfers come out.

“We had an Asian Development Tour tournament in Lahore last year and now the Asian Tour has come to Pakistan. We want to make an event in Pakistan the mainstay on our schedule. It’s definitely a stop we want to come once in a year or maybe more.”

Former Pakistan Golf Federation (PGF) secretary Taimur Hassan, who is now the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation vice-chairman, said he was “never in doubt” that the Asian Tour would return to the country.

“It was only a matter of time,” he told Dawn. “I knew we had the facilities here where we could hold the Asian Tour event.

“But what’s key is that we make sure that the Asian Tour stays here. It’s vital for the development of the sport in the country.

“With the high-level events here, it will give up and coming golfers the opportunity to dream. That opportunity will see more and more of them take the game seriously.”

For KGC captain Bilal Rafi Muneer the return of the Asian Tour to the country is a culmination of a lot of efforts.

“To be honest, when we thought we’d go for [hosting] it, it seemed difficult because we needed a lot of money to bring them here,” he told Dawn.

“We needed to tell them that it’s just as easy to come to Pakistan as any other country in the world.

“With the new government coming in there has been a lot of talk about austerity. But we need community just as much. These are things that create community.

“Anywhere in the world, you see sports events create community. Golfers from all over the world are coming to play here and for the next four days the public can come and see them in action.”

LOCAL GOLFERS SNUBBED

Wednesday’s festivities were the prelude to four days of intense competition with KGC vice-president Hussain Haroon opening the tournament with a ceremonial tee-off.

However, while the international golfers were present at the launch, none of Pakistan’s top golfers including Mohammad Shabbir Iqbal, Mohammad Munir or Matloob Ahmed were there.

“At a time when they should’ve promoted us, they didn’t do anything,” Munir told Dawn, adding that the local golfers weren’t extended an invitation to the welcome dinner on Tuesday.

“Asian Tour coming to Pakistan was a time when they should’ve brought everyone together yet we were snubbed.”

Asked if the snub would encourage the local golfers to go all out and win the tournament, Munir added: “Of course we will give it our best but how can we get better when our people aren’t even encouraging us?”

The foreign golfers, meanwhile, were impressed with the condition of the KGC and looking forward to battling it out for the title.

The highest-ranked golfer at the event is Thailand’s Suradit Yongcharoenchai, who is placed 546th on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR). The 19-year-old is ranked 46th in the Asian Tour Money Leaders list.

Suradit’s compatriot Pannakorn Uthaipas, the 2017 Asian Tour Order of merit winner, is also fancying his chances.

“I think the conditions are good and I’ve practiced well,” Pannakorn, who comes to the country for a second time having featured on the Development Event Tour last year, told Dawn.

Indian golfer Digvijay Singh, a former Asian Tour winner, expressed his joy at coming back to Pakistan.

“I played at the Pakistan Open last time around,” he told Dawn. “Although I haven’t been playing on the Asian Tour for the last couple of years, the moment I got to know that the Tour was coming here, I immediately wanted to come here and so I got an invitation and here I am.”

Other contenders include three-time Asian Tour winner Marcus Both of Australia, two-time winner Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh and Singapore’s Mardan Mamat.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2018