Sri Lanka Inter Club Golf to be teed off today
View(s):The tee off of the inaugural Sri Lanka Inter Club Golf Championship, conducted by Sri Lanka Golf Union (SLGU) will take place today at the Royal Colombo Golf Club course with six teams in contention.
K. Prabagaran
Teams competing at the competition are Royal Colombo Golf Club (RCGC), Nuwara Eliya Golf Club (NEGC), Victoria Golf and Country Resort (VGCR), Eagles Golf Links (EGL), Sandy Bay Golf Links (SBGL) and Army Golf Club Diyathalawa (AGCD). SLGU will conduct the championship in the Stable-ford points format with the best 11 scores from each team will be taken into count and the team with the Best Total Aggregate Score are set to emerge winners. The champion team will walk away with the Sri Lanka Inter Club Golf Championship Challenge Shield. Hosts RCGC will field two teams of 25 players each while NEGC, VGCR, EGL, SBGL and AGC will field a team each. The awards presentation will take place today at 6.00pm at the RCGC soon after the competition ends.
Following this on Tuesday (February 2), the Bally’s Sri Lanka Open 2015 will begin, promising an exciting stretch of four days of professional golf. Here, many records are at stake with the defending Champion K. Prabagaran from NEGC attempting to win the Sri Lanka Open for a third consecutive time thereby creating a record for his home town. However, he will have many Professionals queuing up behind him to grab hold of the championship.
Anura Rohana who finished in sixth last year is on the verge of establishing a record for the Sri Lanka Open having won it on seven occasions and is tied with the great Nandasena Perera for most number of Open wins. N. Thangarajah, who was discovered when Water’s Edge Golf Resort opened and moved to RCGC is waiting in the wings to add this prestigious title to his National amateur title and other professional titles won on the Indian Pro Tour.
Another past winner Amarapadma, Sri Lanka Pros on the Indian Tour — Lalith Kumara, Vijitha Bandara and six Indian Professionals too are set to face the starter. Other local golfers who could pose a challenge will include seasoned campaigners K.A. Chandradasa, Arumugam, Harrison, Sisira Kumara, N. Ranga and Jehan de Saram, the popular RCGC Pro. Mithun Perera will not be on the field as he is currently playing in the US$ One Million Singapore Open which is a joint sanction tournament of the Asian Tour and Japanese Tour 2016.
The International challenge is led by Sandeep Syal, M. Dharma, Saqib Ahmed, Manav Jaini, Pradyumna Barbora from the Indian Pro Tour and Aadil Jahangir and Wasim Rana from Pakistan.
A record number of entries are expected for the Bally’s Sri Lanka Open and the organisers have kept Monday (February 1), the practice day, to host a pre-qualifying round in the event the number of entries exceed the limit of 120. Co-sponsors UTE will present the UTE-CAT Trophy and the Pam Fernando Trophy to the Gentlemen and Lady Members of Golf Clubs who will play on Tuesday and Wednesday alongside the Seniors Championship, played concurrently with the first two rounds of the main tournament.
Bally’s Entertainment, the title sponsor for the Bally’s Sri Lanka Open 2015, has facilitated the participation of Professional Golfers playing in the Indian Pro Tour to make a bid for the prize money on offer.
The total Prize purse has been increased to Sri Lankan Rupees 2,500,000 with the partnership of main sponsors Bally’s Entertainment, co-sponsor United Tractor and Equipment and affiliate sponsorships from Associated Motorways and CML Walkers.