LAHORE, Feb 1: A large number of amateur golfers including, ladies, seniors and veterans have confirmed their entries for the three-day 23rd Governor's Cup golf tournament (amateur), which tees off at the Lahore Gymkhana course from Friday.

A total of 212 participants are competing, of which they are 102 men 18 women vying for honours in both Gross and Net events while sixty-seven seniors and 23 veterans will compete in their respective events.

The men’s event will be held over all three days while the ladies' competition is confined to Saturday and Sunday only. Seniors (above 55 years) and Veterans (above 70 years) will only play on Saturday.

The country’s topmost amateur golfers include Aadil Jehangir, Mohammad Safdar, Imran Ahmed, Danyal Jehangir, Murad A Khan, and Sardar Murad Khan (all from Lahore Gymkhana), Nadeem Abbas (Sargodha), Mohammad Rehman (Royal Palm), Fakhar Imam, Tashfeen Ashraf (Lahore Garrison).

The main trophy will be given to the golfer, who will aggregate the best net score.

Defending champion Dr. Zahid A Khan has not sent his entry so far.

Since its inception way back in 1985, only Javed S. Lodhi could defend the title twice, winning the inaugural edition and the following one.

The course of gymkhana has undergone a lot of maintenance work and its fairways and the greens are giving a very challenging look. Green speed is in the 'fast' range and the putting stroke has to be controlled to successfully handle the vital putting aspect.

Murad A Khan is the is tournament director while Zulifqar Rana is match-referee.