Fourteen Australian golfers are participating in the Jack Akbar Shield 2024 golf tournament, which kicks off today at the Fiji Golf Club.
According to Susan Yee, secretary of the Fiji Senior Golfers Association, the annual tournament continues to expand, with an expected field of 64 players this year. She noted that all past winners, except for Jack Reddy, will compete, making for an intriguing event to see if a former champion or a newcomer will take home the title.
The competition will be a stroke play event, with the winner being determined by the lowest net score, whether male or female.
The Jack Akbar Shield was established in 2015 to honor the memory of golf enthusiast Jack Razak Akbar, who passed away in Malaysia in 2014. Yee highlighted that the shield has become a much-anticipated event on the seniors’ calendar since his passing.
Akbar, who was born in Suva in 1929, attended Marist Brothers Primary School and St Teresa Catholic School in Ba. He began his career as an apprentice with the then Public Works Department before moving on to manage the machine shop at Burns Philp (now Asco Motors). In 1974, he founded Akbar Engineering Ltd.
Initially a dedicated tennis player, Akbar took up golf in the late 1970s due to time constraints during the development of his company. He would often be one of the first on the course each morning, using exercise as a means to combat diabetes, which he diagnosed in his early 40s.
In addition to his business achievements, Akbar was actively involved in social work. He held various leadership positions, including president of the Suva Jaycees, president of the Rotary Club Suva, vice president of the Fiji Muslim League, and honorary consul for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. He was awarded an MBE by the Queen in 1987 for his services.
His late wife, Gulnoor Akbar, was a frequent presence at the Jack Akbar Shield prizegiving ceremonies.
The list of previous winners includes Thiphait Hussein (2015, 2017), Gardiner Whiteside (2016), Jack Reddy (2018), Ishwar Nand (2019), Kevin McCarthy (2022), and Shalendra Prasad (2023). This year, Prasad will be defending his title.