Aadam Syed and Hamza Taimur Amin shared the opening-round lead after both carded three-under-par 69s at the 30th Chief of the Naval Staff Open Golf Championship at Karachi Golf Club on Thursday.

The two golfers followed contrasting routes to the top of the leaderboard. Syed produced a strong back nine, while Amin made an early charge before dropping a shot late in his round.

Syed turned in an even-par 36 before delivering a bogey-free back nine of 33. He picked up birdies on the 11th, 15th and 17th holes to finish at three-under-par.

Amin started strongly with an outward nine of 34, including a birdie on the eighth. He added further birdies on the 11th and 13th holes before a six on the 15th interrupted his momentum. He completed the inward nine in 35 to match Syed’s 69.

Three golfers trail the leaders by one stroke

Arshad Rasheed, Matloob Ahmad and veteran Muhammad Munir finished one shot behind the co-leaders.

Rasheed and Ahmad both carded two-under-par 70s, with inward-half scores of 34. Munir also signed for a 70 after recording 34 on the front nine and 36 on the back.

Akber Mehroz and Waheed Baloch shared sixth place on 71. Mehroz made an impressive start with a front-nine 33 but slipped to 38 on the inward half. Baloch recorded a consistent 36-35 round.

Muddasir Iqbal and Muhammad Saqib were tied for eighth place after finishing level-par 72.

Waleed Bilal leads men’s amateur category

Meanwhile, Waleed Bilal took a two-shot lead in the Men’s Amateur category after carding a two-over-par 74.

Bilal struggled on the front nine, returning a 42. However, he produced an impressive turnaround with a 32 on the back nine.

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His strong finish included consecutive twos on the 11th and 12th holes, followed by six consecutive fours to complete his round.

World Amateur Golf Ranking player Abdullah Ansar Raja finished second with a 76. He recorded scores of 39 and 37 across the two halves.

Gibran Asghar Khan held third place on 78 after losing momentum following a strong opening nine of 37.

Muhammad Barik Ayub stood fourth on 81. Muhammad Hassan Shahid, Shawaiz Ahmad Latki and Ali Hamza shared fifth place at 82 among the players who had completed their opening rounds.