Eleven corporate sides contest WCGC national final; winner to fly the flag at October world championship
By Arif Mehmood
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan returns to the world corporate golf map on Saturday when 11 company teams, qualified through regional rounds, tee off at Islamabad Club for the MariEnergies World Corporate Golf Challenge (WCGC) 2026 National Final — the last domestic step on what organisers are calling the country’s “Road to Beijing.”
The winners will represent Pakistan at the 33rd WCGC World Final, to be staged from 19 to 23 October at Beijing Qinghe Bay Golf Country Club. The global championship draws amateur corporate pairings from more than 30 countries.
Details were set out on Thursday at a press conference at the Marriott Hotel, Islamabad, by Adeed Khan, chief executive of Reliance Golf (Pvt) Ltd, official licensee of the WCGC Pakistan chapter through 2030. Mari Energies Limited is title sponsor of the International Series.
“WCGC gives Pakistan’s business leaders a structured path to compete, connect and represent the country on a recognised global stage,” Mr Khan told reporters, framing the event as more than a club tournament: a meeting point of sport, commerce and diplomacy.
Saturday’s field will be widened by two invitationals. A Diplomatic Invitational is expected to include missions from the United States, Australia, Belgium, Poland, Portugal, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and other countries. A Corporate Invitational will bring in senior Pakistani executives who did not come through the qualifier route.
The national final will also mark the first visit to Pakistan by WCGC chairman José Guerra. International coach Claude May, accredited by the Professional Golf Teachers Association of America, is scheduled to run a masterclass for senior corporate and diplomatic players.
Reliance Golf, which launched the Pakistan chapter earlier this year after securing the executive partnership, staged qualifiers in cities including Multan, Lahore and Islamabad. Organisers say the long licence to 2030 is intended to “institutionalise” corporate golf rather than treat it as a one-off hospitality day.
For Mari Energies, the title role sits alongside its existing presence on the Islamabad Club calendar. The listed energy company said its support was meant to project Pakistani professionalism abroad and to deepen ties between local business and the diplomatic community stationed in the capital.
The WCGC format is built around amateur company teams, typically pairs, rather than touring professionals. National champions from each chapter advance to the world week in Beijing, where championship rounds will be played on the members-only Chaoyang Course.
Play at Islamabad Club on 5 September will decide which Pakistani pairing makes that journey.
