KARACHI: It was a decision by the Pakistan Golf Federation that had its vice-president Asad I.A. Khan fuming.

In the 48th edition of the UMA-Pakistan Open Golf Championship, the country’s oldest championship for professional golfers which tees off at the Karachi Golf Club on Thursday, the PGF decided to limit the number of competing amateur golfers to just 15.

“But then,” Asad told Dawn on Wednesday, “there was no selection criteria as it didn’t take handicap into consideration. They just sent invitations to amateurs based on recent tournament participation.”

A number of those amateurs dropped out and Asad said his pleas to include amateurs who were in Karachi were not heard.

“There were many boys who were keen to play including two-handicapped Ralfay Raja from Rawalpindi,” he said. “But they were refused in a unilateral decision by the imperviously imperial PGF secretary.

“It’s the PGF’s highhandedness which has seen leading amateurs being denied. They didn’t invite players based on their handicaps which will see many leading amateurs miss out on a tournament which carries World Amateur Ranking points.”

The former Sindh Golf Association president claimed that he was “disgusted” by the PGF decision. “It had no right to do that,” he added. “The KGC members are also very upset at this decision. It is the associations which all contribute to the PGF.”

The row over the amateurs has overshadowed the Rs10 million sponsorship of the tournament for the first time by United Marine Agencies, making it the country’s most lucrative event.

Pakistan’s number one Shabbir Iqbal will defend his title, fresh from making back-to-back titles at last week’s Sindh Open.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2022