HSBC together with Sri Lanka Golf is proud to announce the launch of the second edition of HSBC Future Lions Golf grassroots programme from 24 February to 9 April. The programme is designed to introduce the game of Golf to children aged 9-12 years in the country and provide them with the opportunity to develop their skills and pursue their passion for the sport.

The first leg of the programme was initiated in July 2017, with over 700 young people participating and several of them going on to compete in local and international tournaments. The second leg of the program will build on that success by expanding the reach of the program and offering even more opportunities for young people to get involved, with the involvement of six leading Golf clubs namely at Shangri-La Golf Resort Hambantota, Nuwara Eliya Golf Club, Victoria Golf Resort Kandy, Eagles Heritage Golf Club – Anuradhapura , Eagles Links Golf Club – Trincomalee and Royal Colombo Golf Club – Colombo.

The program will include coaching clinics with hands-on instruction from experienced golf professionals for young golfers of all skill   levels.   The   HSBC Future Lions Golf grassroots   programme is open to youngsters aged 9- 12 years across the locations. This year, a special feature will be the introduction of “Girls on Par” programme which is an initiative to increase the participation and representation of young girls in the sport.

Mark Surgenor – CEO of HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives stated “As the leading international Bank in Sri Lanka , we look forward in supporting the children in the country to take on Golf as a new sport. HSBC Group is a strong supporter of Golf globally and through its outreach programmes have introduced Golf to millions of children globally and we want to extend the same experience in Sri Lanka. The HSBC Future Lions Golf grassroots programme is committed to grow the game in Sri Lanka and more importantly to provide the younger generation with an opportunity to develop their skills and pursue their passion for the sport. We are confident that the second edition of the programme will be even more successful than our previous edition back in 2017/18. We hope children across the country will make use of this opportunity and participate across the six locations planned. I look forward to seeing the positive impact it will have on inclusivity in the sport in years to come.”

In the inaugural programme launched in July 2017 and 2018, over 700 children were introduced to Golf across seven locations. 250 of them underwent further advanced training and development at the respective academies and what’s significant is that the programme introduced 25 new junior Golfers who played at a national level thanks to this national effort. What’s significant is that two Junior stars produced by this programme were master Adithya Weerasinghe and Thenuk Sathsindu from the Anuradhapura Academy. Both players are single handicappers and are now playing competitive Golf and recently were selected to the Sri Lanka Golf (SLG) national junior squad.