He is not your stereotypical sportsman. He is not what you call flamboyant. He is no crowd-puller. Meet him and he will come across as your everyday man. He is slightly built and apart from a polite smile that seems to be a constant, nothing differentiates him from the ordinary.

But looks can be deceptive.

In Waheed Baloch’s case, they certainly are. This 39-year-old happens to be one of the most accomplished professional golfers in Pakistan.

Over the years Karachi’s Baloch community has produced many a sportsman. While most of the sports icons hailing from the city’s Lyari locality made their bones in the boxing ring, other sports in which the athletic Baloch men have excelled at the national level include football and cycling.

Waheed, however, is a rare exception. Partly because he wasn’t raised on the action-packed streets of Lyari where sporting prowess meant having fast hands and faster feet. Partly because the mild-mannered Waheed’s temperament is more suited to the relatively sedate confines of a golf course where you are actually playing against yourself instead of pitted against an opponent.

A man of few words, Waheed is a simple, hardworking man, who is more comfortable when the limelight is off him.

It was fate that brought Waheed to the golf course back in the eighties. Hailing from a humble background, Waheed ended up at the Karachi Golf Club (KGC) in a bid to supplement his family’s dwindling income.

"I lived across the road from here (Karachi Golf Club) in Dalmia and began working as a caddy when I was 13," he recalls. "I worked as a caddy for around 7 or 8 years and during that team developed a flair for golf. I would pick a club whenever I got the opportunity and managed to learn how to play."

He turned out to be a natural.

By 1995, Waheed had managed to get himself noticed because of his golfing prowess. He made his presence felt in the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Open which was held at the KGC in 1995 and managed to find a place in the APGA (Asian Tour) tournament that was played there the following year.

"The final day of the Asian tournament turned out to be a memorable one for me as I shot a round of 64 which was the best score of the day. It was a big thing considering that the tournament included the likes of KJ Choi, SSP Chowrasia, Jeev Milka Singh and Amandeep Johl."

Today, South Korea’s Choi and the Indian duo of Chowrasia and Singh are counted among the biggest Asian golf stars at the international level.

Waheed was 19 at that time and a 17th place finish gave him enough self belief to build a career as a golf professional.

"I knew I had it in me especially after a good final round. I had already turned professional on the advice of Rasheed Juma, who was KGC’s vice president at that time. He told me to focus on my career."

Waheed, who is now sponsored by Bank AlHabib, did well on the national circuit as he routinely made the cut and finished as the runner-up in almost a dozen national-level tournaments. However, he always missed the opportunity of winning a major national tournament as it took him almost eight years before putting his hands on a major trophy – the lucrative CNS Open in 2013 in Karachi.

"It was the biggest win of my career," he says.

Asked whether a lack of trophies frustrated him during the dry period, Waheed said, "Though I wasn’t winning any tournament, I was coming very close and because of that I knew that it was only a matter of time. I kept trying and was finally rewarded."

Waheed was rewarded again when he won the coveted Bank AlHabib title (Rashid D. Habib Memorial) early this year at the KGC, which continues to be his happy hunting ground.

Waheed has been in the top five in the national rankings for the last 12 years or so and despite being 39 remains confident that he can rise to No. 1 in the list.

"I know I can do it," says Waheed, who is not a long-hitter but compensates his lack of distance with a reliable fairway shot. He just wants his putting to improve.

"It’s all about accuracy," says Waheed.

There was a time when Waheed gave serious thought to becoming a journeyman as he competed on the Indian Tour and also made an attempt to earn an Asian Tour card.

"I did play on the Indian Tour and was unlucky to miss an Asian Tour card by one stroke when I competed in the Qualifying School," he says.

So why did he give up?

"I haven’t given up but the thing is that it’s very expensive to pursue a career as a professional outside Pakistan.

"You need a lot of money. Just the entry fee will cost you around 2000 to 2500 dollars and then there are other expenses. It’s simply impossible for you to become a travelling professional without proper sponsorship or support."

So isn’t the Pakistan Golf Federation (PGF), which is a cash-rich body, helping players like Waheed.

"They do provide some support but it’s very limited," he says.

According to him, PGF offers airfare and 500 dollars to any top professional planning to compete internationally. "That’s it. I think that they should do more," he adds.

"They should support more players and give them proper opportunities. Look at players like India’s Chowrasia and Bangladesh’s Siddikur Rahman. They are achieving international success because of the support that they received at home. Pakistani golfers can also win laurels for the country provided we get proper backing."

Waheed, however, acknowledges the fact that he was lucky to receive substantial support during his salad days as a golfer.

"Many KGC members played a role and supported me. The Karachi Golf Club really backed me. Such support is really very important because golf is a very expensive sport and anyone who doesn’t come from a rich background cannot afford it. That’s why sponsorship is so important. It can make or break any player."

Unlike many top professionals of the country who are often criticized over their failure to give back to the sport, Waheed is doing his bit to help provide a boost to Pakistan golf.

When he is not preparing for a major assignment, Waheed devotes his time in training the young and promising golfers. In fact he has inspired many Baloch youngsters like Ghulam Baloch to take up the sport as a profession. Among his charges are Ali Sher and Shafaq Khan, two young professionals from Karachi.

When he was a rookie, Waheed himself drew inspiration from the great Ghulam Nabi, one of the most successful professionals in the history of Pakistan golf.

"Ghulam Nabi was my role model. There are also very good players like Shabbir Iqbal but Ghulam Nabi was something else. I used to watch him play whenever I had the chance. The way he wiggled out of difficult situations taught me a lot."

While golf has taken off in the region with countries like India and even Bangladesh producing world-class professionals, Pakistan has failed to really make its presence felt.

Waheed is of the view that the authorities will have to inject more money in the sport to make it a viable option for youngsters.

"There is a lot of talent in Pakistan," he says. "Though the prize money is getting bigger it is still too little to make professional golf a viable option for talented kids.

"They would instead choose sports like cricket which offer much more in Pakistan.

"You have to inject more money into our national circuit. In India the prize money has increased significantly and that has prompted parents to encourage their kids to take up golf. You have to do that in Pakistan as well. Golf has to become lucrative enough to become a profession. At the moment, only the top players can make a living out of playing professional golf in Pakistan. Others barely manage to survive which means that not many parents would want their children to take the risk of becoming professional golfers. It has to change otherwise Pakistan golf will remain stagnant."