Lahore - Muhammed Shabbir Iqbal of Islamabad and M Shahzad of Lahore Garrison with a similar 18 holes score of gross 70, two under par emerged as pace setters after the first round of this four-round Defence Raya Open Golf Championship now in progress at the incomparable, sublime and rapturous Defence Raya Golf Course.
In weather ideal for golf some competitors most at ease were M Alam of PAF, Aadil Jehangir of PAF Skyview and the youthful M Rehman of Royal Palm Golf Club. They were bunched together at the second slot at a score of gross 71, one under par. Alam had an illustrious round of 18 holes and also wonderful were Aadil Jehangir and M Rehman.Their position of merit is attributable to some cavalier style hitting backed by accuracy off the fairways. 
A few others, who look well placed at a par score of 72 are M Afzal (Defence Raya), Usman Ali (Garrison), Talat Ijaz (Gymkhana) and Wisal Khan (Peshawar). By all means in a championship of this standard where top 100 ranked golf professionals are participating, appearing amongst the top ten slots represents a praiseworthy achievement. Placed at a score of gross 73 are M Akhter, Abid Rana and Anser Mehmood. 
The second round on Saturday will be a relentless day for these competitors who seek rewards and honors. Another segment was for the Senior Professionals and the leaders in that category were Nisar Hussain of PAF and Javed Inayat of Karachi with a first round score of gross 73. They may be seniors but played steadfastly and unwaveringly .Also impressive in this category was Irfan Mehmood of Rawalpindi and he is placed third at a score of 77.
The championship was supervised by Haroon Shafiq of Defence Raya.