The two day golf tournament ‘Golfing in Paradise’ concluded here at Royal Springs Golf Course on Sunday afternoon which saw participation of over 100 golfers from the country besides 40 local golfers.Minister for Public Works, Naeem Akhtar who was the chief guest on the concluding function distributed awards among winners and the participants.Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said the government will promote golf in a big way by organizing more such tournaments in future.He appreciated the golfers for visiting Kashmir along with their families to participate in the tournament.“We are happy at the successful completion of this golf tournament and we will not let this momentum go away. We will organize more such tournaments to bring more golfers to this place,” said the Minister.While appealing the participants to be the ambassadors of Kashmir, Naeem Akhtar asked them to visit Kashmir again along with their families, friends and business associates.“We have a complete golf circuit in J&K which are being maintained constantly with highest professional regard. We want you to visit here, play on our courses and promote them. With you, our wonderful golf courses would achieve new heights of success and popularity,” he said while addressing the golfers.
Secretary Tourism, M H Malik who was also present on the occasion said Kashmir is not what is shown on the television channels.“You must have realized that Kashmir is not what you may have seen on TV. We appeal you to narrate your experiences to your fellows back home,” said Malik.He said J&K has world class golf course which can host international tournaments.“We have beautiful golf courses at beautiful locations which are of international standards. We need your support by playing on our courses so that we can also hold international level tournaments here,” said Malik.He said golfing is emerging as the best tourism attraction for any place.“We already have well maintained golf courses. These tournaments will help us put J&K at the international map of golf tourism,” he said.The notable participants in the tournament include India’s one of the top golfers Shiv Kapoor who is two time Asian tour winner.Other personalities include Former Chief of Army Staff and Governor, Gen J J Singh, Director General of Police Chandigarh Tejinder Singh Luthra, Owner of Sara Group D P Singh, Owner of Kohinoor Group Gurnam Arora, and Owner of Silver Glides Pradeep Jain.
The golfers are also accompanied by their families.Speaking on the occasion Shiv Kapoor said he had heard about Kashmir and its wonderful golf courses and came here with high expectations.“I was blown away by the scenery of beautiful golf courses here. I have played at most of the golf courses in Asia and other European countries but the golf courses here have natural settings which are complemented with the perfect weather conditions. Whatever I expectations I had, the golf courses here are beyond that,” he said.He said state government has great assets in the shape of these golf course which can easily host world level golf tournaments.Owner of the Sara Group DP Singh also spoke on the occasion and hailed the department for organizing the tournament.Director Tourism Kashmir Mahmood A Shah, MD JKTDC Sarmad Hafeez, MD Golf Development Authority, CEO Pahalgam Development Authority Mushtaq Simnani, Deputy Director Tourism Riyaz Beigh and Deputy Director Tourism (Publicity) Peerzada Zahoor, President J&K Golf Association Mushtaq Burza also present at the prize distribution ceremony today.