| Bold
solo performers lift Royal Colombo
Just recently I wrote about pairs of Office bearers who brought
much credit to the development of Golf in Sri Lanka in general and
at the Royal Colombo in particular. Today my plan is to highlight
individual performers.
Bold,
challenging and unselfish, these fine gentlemen of distinction made
decisions which saved golf from distress and placed the administration
on the road to progress. A tradition in the past or an unwritten
rule was that the most Senior member in committee becomes eligible
to Vice Captaincy immaterial of his proven capacity and then 2 years
later becomes President. Many resented this pattern for reasons
that unfortunate choices gave the Club no benefit or chance to improve
and develop. They call it dead wood.
Then
came a meteoric change to the pattern when bold decisions were widely
accepted and applauded. The first to take the rewarding plunge was
Ajit Chitty a smart administrator who in masterly style agreed that
the material he had round him in Committee was inadequate to carry
the flag. So, he happily and wisely made the decision that Johnnie
de Saram from outside the Committee should be his Vice Captain as
he moved up to Captain. There was instant success as De Saram did
a helluva good supporting job within which he pressed to ensure
that players drew for partners and starting times in all major tournaments.
He handled this personally with finesse and never left choosing
to the stewards.
Shiran
Endorses
The next to take the wise and rewarding decision was Shiran
de Soysa. He was not satisfied with the material he had in committee
and he unhesitatingly invited Haris Serasinghe to join him assessing
the monumental task ahead of him. Serasinghe was not in the Committee,
became an excellent team man, a shrewd Vice Captain as time eventually
proved.
Sarath
comes in
Lalith Ramanayake was a smart administrator. He handles
the affairs of the Club with skill and absolute competence. He was
firm and favoured no one. When the time came for him to choose a
Vice Captain he boldly took the decision to look outside the Committee
for obvious reasons and was quick to make the smart and much favoured
decision of inviting Sarath Piyaratne to join him. Eventually Piyaratne
moved to take over as Captain and bring credit to the Club with
his firm decision making, polite mannerism, diplomatic style and
smart judgment. He was popular.
Never
late
The time has come to stall this succession ladder for
the good of the Club and its members. Seniority in membership in
the committee must never be a qualification to move up to Vice Captain.
Certainly not.
Rumblings
What appeared last week under this heading was absolute
mutilation of what I had to say and this is the correction. The
rumblings continue that chosen people get partners and starting
times of their choosing while the rule and practice prescribes that
the tournament committee under the supervision of the Vice Captain
draws for starting times and in some cases partners too. Last year
despite protests the vice Captain disregarded this accepted practice
causing dissension. Ajantha Mylvaganam the Vice Captain this year
has been identified as a no favours strict disciplinarian and many
feel certain that much will be done to correct the untidy, unpleasant
situation. Many have promised much support. |
