Dhanika and Maleena

Fifteen year-old Ladies College girl Maleena Awn, and British School boy Dhanika de Silva, did well at the just concluded Junior Open, golf’s most prestigious championship for youngsters sixteen and under.

Dhanika played extremely well to be placed third overall in the Bronze division while Maleena did well to be placed eleventh in the same division. The Sri Lanka Golf Union [SLGU] selected both youngsters after three days of trials in Nuwara EliyaThe extremely strong and shifting winds gusting from the Irish Sea and from the banks of the river Ribble in average 15 centigrade temperature found the best girl and boy golfers from each of the competing 68 countries struggling to play to their potential.

The juniors played without caddies making their own hard decisions on negotiating the wind. After 54 holes of golf, Moriya Jutanugarn, the current Thai girl’s champion lifted The Junior Open; a first for a girl, with a score of plus 9 on 225. The girls had a clear advantage as they had shorter distances to the pin, which helped them avoid the full impact of the wind. Steven Lam from Hong Kong and Jordan Spieth from the US were tied for second place at plus 10 playing in the Gold division for handicaps of up to 3.

Dhanika in action

Juniors in the Silver and Bronze divisions, with handicaps of 4 to 9 and 10 to 18 respectively battled it out over 36 holes at par 144. Laura Christiaens of Belgium emerged the winner in the Silver with a score of 152. Chinese girl Huang Zhiying topped the Bronze division on 166 with Hwa-Sing Wang from Chinese Taipei coming in second at 167. Sri Lanka’s Dhanika de Silva was third overall with a score of 172 and first among the boys in the division.

He was also runner up in the Asia Pacific Regional Group on a net basis among the 17 regional competitors. Maleena Awn had a brilliant round on the first day leading the bronze division with a score of 82. However, she ended at eleventh place at 182 after the winds played havoc with her game on the final day.

She was placed fifth on a net basis in Asia Pacific Regional Group. On a net basis she led all divisions with a 5 under par net 69 where the course scratch score for the day was 74. Thus she became one of only eleven golfers to have registered a net score of less than 70 on both days of the championship. It was most unfortunate that early on in the final day a sudden gust of wind turned the direction of her ball, which hit a marshal on the head who was in the rough looking for the ball of a previous competitor, which made young Maleena lose her concentration.

With the championship behind them, the young golfers had the rare privilege of watching their icons play at nearby Royal Birkdale on the invitation of the R&A. It was a indeed a treat for the juniors to see Padriag Harrington win The Open as it was him who was the chief guest at the launch of the Junior Open and presented each of them with their official player’s badges. However, his winning score of plus 3 and pros like Retief Goosen carding plus 15, and Sergio Garcia, carding plus 17 goes to show the enormous impact of the wind in Southport over the last several days.

The SLGU is currently working hard towards improving golf at the junior level with a dedicated junior program in place. A junior clinic is conducted every Wednesday and Friday by a professional British coach and all youngsters interested in golf are welcome. They also play a junior medal round every month. It is hoped that Sri Lanka could have an even better showing when the Junior Open is held at Lundin in Fife, Scotland in 2010. SriLankan Airlines sponsored their travel.