Nimal and Romesh win at stroke play competition

Tycoon Ferrin Careem of Hilton Jeweller supports the Royal Colombo in their efforts to improve the skills of Golf. The January 2008 Stroke play competition which was successfully concluded was sponsored by Careem Jewellers whose Chief Executive is Ferrin Carem.

A Division
Nimal Hettiarachchi beat Romesh Abhayarate by one stroke to win by that slender margin 67 to 68. Mohan Ratnayake did well with nett 69 and young Zen Dharmaratne came good with nett 70.

B Division
Gerrard Amerasinghe shot a great nett 66 in style to get ahead of Lal Wickrematunga by 2 strokes. Wickramatunga tied with Greg Ritchie but got ahead with a better back nine. Young Ritchie was outstanding with the gross score 80. There were 5 cracking centuries in this Division with Joseph Kenny striking a water riddled sparkler. The confetti collection was quite poor with only 4 contributing. Rohan Withanachchi was quite messy

C Division
Jason Daniel comparatively new to the scene was in stunning form. Off handicap 25 the newcomer surprised the entire field with a stunning nett 60 to not only register the lowest gross score 85 but also the lowest nett score. He was jubilant at the 19th. Sanka Mediripitiya, Chanaka Seneratne and raw rookie Nihal Keppitipola were prominent with commendable scores with Sanka leading the way with nett 65. Chanaka Senaratne and Nihal Keppitipola were on 66 each. They had good reasons to light up the 19th. A few excellent scores followed with Chisto Dias 68, T. Wijesekara 69, Dinesh de Silva 69 and those who came behind were H. Uwise 70, Sanka Wijesinghe 70 and Anura Ratnayake 70. All creditable scores. Unbelievably 39 players struck centuries with the messiest coming from the club heads of Roy Anthony. The pond boys had a hefty harvest singing hallelujahs all the way to the tuck shop.

SENIORS
"Joe Boy" Perera once again captured the seniors with a better back nine beating spritely Lalith de Mel.

Master Dias
Christo Dias was one huge elated man after what he called his greatest achievement of nett 68. A glutton for celebrating Michael's brother rushed to the 19th hole to light up the area in broad daylight and then drive home to his pent house with a few associates to continue over a Goanese Curry Lunch laced with Peach Melba and Scotland's best. The smart Architect Tommy Wijesekera was quite sad to be beaten by one stroke after his best ever effort of nett 69.

The Course
The course has received meticulous attention and the greens tender care. The bad weather has been unkind but in a way helped to lush up the fairways. Sanjeeva Wickemanayake pays massive attention and has been amply rewarded with an excellent course.Caddies

Caddies
The much neglected Caddie class of players got a taste of Ferin Careem's hospitality. K.A. Chandradasa cracked a stunning 5 under par 65 and J.J. Kumar did very well on 67. I strongly suggest that they be given many more opportunities to play competitive Golf participating with "A" Division players. This will be a sign of the true spirit of golf.

Ticker Problem
My friends will be pleased to learn that my untidy Ticker was brought under control fully serviced and repaired with out replacements and use of spare parts. I am taking it very easy now with a couple of measured shots each evening.