LAHORE: The eighth Quaid-e-Azam Amateur Golf Championship tees off here at the Lahore Gymkhana course on Friday.

This was stated by convenor golf Shaukat Javed during a press conference also addressed by captain golf Omer Zia and director media Khawaja Pervaiz Saeed.

Shaukat said registered amateurs from across Pakistan with a handicap of 14 and below were eligible to participate in the championship.

Senior amateurs, veterans and ladies were also eligible to feature in the event, Omer said.

He said amateurs with a handicap of 14 and below will compete over 36 holes on Dec 7-8. Senior amateurs above 55 years of age and ladies will compete over 18 holes on Dec 6. As for the veterans above 70 years, they will compete over 9 holes on Dec 6. And the category of veterans over 80 years will be in action over 6 holes.

According to Pervaiz, the competing hopefuls add up to a total of 213 with amateur competitors being 120, senior amateurs 63, ladies 20, veterans in age bracket 70-80 are 40 and veterans above 80 years number eight.

Some prominent and proficient golfers in the run will be:

Damil Atta ullah, Col. Rustam Ali Chatha, Ahmed Kiyani (all from Lahore Garrison); Mohsen Zafar, (Gymkhana), Hussain Hamid (Royal Palm); Raja Mohammad Israr Garden (City); Nadeem Aslam, Tariq Mehmood, Nouman Ilyas, Lahore Garrison, Khalid Mehmood (Rawaplindi) and Owais Intesar (Karachi Golf Club).

Other notable ones are Hassan Hamid, Asim Tiwana, Usman Saleem Cheema all from (Royal Palm); Rashid Akbar (Garrison); Faisal Ali Sayid (Raya); Shahid Mohammad Shah, (Okara); Farooq A. Khan, Kh. Jehanzaib, Rizwan Raees Khan, Hassan Sami-ud-din, Hamza Kardar and Hamza Asif (all from Gymkhana).

In ladies section the prominent ones are Sunyah Osama, Ghazala Yasmin, Zaib-un-Nisa, Ana James Gill and Zahida Durrani.

Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2019