LAHORE, Feb 27: The fifth 54-hole Faysal Bank Open Golf will tee off at the 6554-yard Lahore Gymkhana course Friday at 7.45 a.m.

Lahore Gymkhana’s Matloob Ahmad, who recently won the Pakistan Open in Karachi, will face a strong challenge to maintain his supremacy.

In all, 98 professionals, 110 amateurs, 49 seniors and four ladies will be competing in their respective categories. The tournament offers a total cash prize of Rs 250,000 for professionals only.

Matloob, ranked 2nd in the competition, will be facing a tough copetition from top ranked Shabbir Iqbal, Muhammad Tariq and Muhammad Munir, all from Islamabad.

Last year’s winner, Muhammad Siddique (Faisalabad), however, has a gigantic task to retain his title as he has to play the qualifying round Thursday, after failing to be included  in the top 11.

The top-11 competitors are Shabbir Iqbal (Islamabad), Matloob Ahmed (Gymkhana), Muhammad Tariq (Islamabad), Abbas Ali (Gymkhana), Imdad Hussain (Lahore Garrison), Muhammad Munir (Islamabad), Mohammad Akram (Gymkhana), Mohammad Tahir (Gymkhana), Muhammad Sajid (Rawalpindi), Ghulam Nabi (Gymkhana), Muhammad Irfan (Rawalpindi).

The  amateurs, having handicap 14 or below are  eligible  to take part. Shahid Javed Khan, the reigning champion, is the  top seed in the amateur event. Zeeshan Ali (Peshawar), Tariq Mehmood (Islamabad) and Ghazanfar Mehmood (Rawalpindi) are the other top ranked golfers, occupying the 2nd to 4th seed, respectively.

The ladies event are to be held on Friday and Saturday and the golfers having  the handicap of 36 and below  can  contest.  The seniors, having the handicap of 18 or below and above 55 years of age are eligible to take part.

A special prize of a car for “Hole-in-One” for professionals will also be at stake.

Captain of the Lahore Gymkhana course Sardar Haroon said that the Hole No. 18 has been restructured with a beautiful layout and a water hazard that extended from the Tee to Green, thus making it a big challenge for the competing golfers. The Gymkhana course is 6554 yards long with 3386 outward (par-37) and 3168 inward (par-35).

The three-day tournament will conclude Sunday.