The four-day championship will offer a record prize basket of Rs7 million

 Pakistan’s top stars will feature in the UMA 22nd Chief of Naval Staff Open Golf Championship to be played here at the Karachi Golf Club from August 17-20. With a record prize purse of Rs7 million and confirmed participation of all the top professionals and amateurs of the country, the UMA-CNS Open is set to be the biggest national golfing event of the year. “We are confident of making the UMA-CNS Open a mega success,” Rear Admiral Ather Mukhtar, Commander Karachi, said at a press conference held here at KGC on Thursday. For the ninth straight year United Marine Agencies (UMA) is the title sponsor of the championship. Sohail Shams, CEO of UMA, reiterated his company’s support for the promotion of golf in Pakistan.

“The UMA-CNS Open is undoubtedly the biggest platform for golf in Pakistan. I can confidently state that it is a massive event on the calendar of Pakistan Golf Federation and also the most awaited one for the participants,” he said. “I feel proud to announce that this is the consecutive 9th year of UMA being the major sponsor of this grand golf event. This tournament has provided us a chance to come together and share the common interest of sports, especially golf. It is quite gratifying to witness that the number of participants is increasing each year and I can proudly say that this is the symbol of our success in the quest of promoting golf in Pakistan,” added Sohail, who was flanked by Commodore Ghazanfar Abbas, KGC’s Chief Operating Officer, Bilal Muneer (KGC Captain) and Commodore Saqib Khattak (Commanding Officer Bahadur).

Hailed as the richest sporting event of Pakistan, the UMA-CNS Open is all set to once again feature the cream of national golf, in all categories. The prize purse of the championship has been enhanced by Rs500,000 this year, making it the richest-ever event in Pakistan sports history. The professionals will be vying for top honours and a record prize purse of Rs6.5 million. The main championship is preceded by a special match for KGC caddies and semi-professionals that will carry a stake prize money of Rs500,000. In addition to the prize purse, the golfers will also have a chance to win two brand new cars – Toyota Fortuner and Suzuki Ciaz – during the Championship. Last year, it was the seasoned Matloob Ahmed who won the professionals’ title after a lapse of 12 years. He had an aggregate of 276, 12 under-par, winning the title ahead of Pakistan No. 1 Shabbir Iqbal.