Mercedes Benz golf tourney a resounding success

Ranjith Pandithage, the Chief Executive of Diesel & Motor Engineering Co. Ltd. Did it is style when he gave the Benz Trophy Tourney at the Ridgeways a lift in poshness rarely experienced at the Royal Colombo Golf Club. 215 players vied for 6 seats on a jet plane to the Australian Gold Coast for the 2nd leg of this annual fabulous international tournament. The winners and runners-up in the Australian Contest will move to Germany for the international finals. All this and much more, through the courtesy of Mercedes Benz, the pride of Germany. The Royal Colombo collected Rs.64,500/- through entrance fees probably inadequate to compensate for the thrashing the course took from over a double century of players.

A Division
In this Classic Division Sarath Piyaratne was the master calling the shots and collecting 39 points beating Nirmal Hettiarchy by 2 strokes. Piyaratne was hellishly long and accurate off the tees where necessary and his strong irons were positive and rewarding. He was an exceptionally popular winner judging from the resounding applause he received when he took the award from Ranjith Pandithage. Vanitha was absolutely overjoyed basking in the glory that Sarath picked. Suresh Subramaniam of Lawn Tennis fame came pretty good with 36 points to take 3rd place and celebrate joyfully. Sanjeeva Wickremanayake hit misery with 19 points.

B Division
The man at the moment is Rohitha Fonseka, who in recent months has been a regular at the awards ceremonies. He cracked a stunning 42 points victory beating Joseph Kenny by a slender margin of 1 point. Fonseka was consistent through the round as he picked a few one putts to add to his glory. A cheerful, fun-loving player, he was overjoyed with his score and victory, giving shot by shot commentaries to his inseparable Nimal Perera on the pars he collected on the long holes. Kenny was untidy once and paid the price, but he will still have a seat on the jet to Queensland. J. H. Lee came 3rd with 40 points. Shanil Fernando, Chula Ariyaratne and ‘Nug’ de Silva got stranded in the disaster zone.

C Division
They say that Jude is the Saint for desperate cases. Jude Rayan reflected no desperation when he quite nonchalantly captured hole after hole to reach a convincing almost unmatchable 41 points, the 2nd best for the tourney. He beamed all evening following a richly deserved victory. Tony Nadarajah belted 38 points and could have got past Rayan if only untidiness did not filter into his game. He needs to be a shade more adventurous to reap the benefits of luck. Nadaraja was delighted with the performance and is looking forward to the trip ‘down under’. Y. T. Han came 3rd with 36 points. Shiran Manakulasuriya, Dyan Peiris and Fazal Hameed will want very much to forget their performances in this tourney. They played ‘Tsunami golf’a wag was heard to say.

Gymkhana Events
Kamlesh Johnpillai sorted out the Six Hidden Holes Contest admirably with an excellent score of 18. Lal de Mel emerged a pretty smart senior when he collected a praiseworthy 35 point score in the Senior Division. Ranil Pathirana almost holed out on the 16th when he settled closest to the pin. He collected his award from petite Jeevani Pandithage, His F.I.L. enjoyed the reflected glory at the 19th.
The Business Card Draw was won by amiable Prasanna Goonetilleke while Stephen Griffin took a wooden ladle home for a performance he would not want to remember.

Awards
The ceremony was classy and superbly put together. Ranjith Pandithage’s head still shines and his pretty wife Jeevani’s smile can still disarm many. A great show, most enjoyable and quite intoxicating. Many hallelujahs were sung in praise of Dimo.