Golf: Jackie Dias wins the Mackwoods Championship

Jackie Dias won the Sri Lanka Ladies’ Strokeplay Championship, which celebrated its 41st anniversary, played for the Mackwoods Championship at the Nuwara Eliya Golf Club.   The winner, Jackie Dias, with gross scores of 80, 85 and 75 secured her victory, while her experience and ability saw her take the title for the seventh time.   Her margin of victory of 7 shots better than runner-up Tania Balasuriya‘s score is a noteworthy achievement who shot a gross score over three days of 83, 82 and 82.   Tania, a 13-year-old is making a mark in ladies golf and is tippd to be a force to reckon with in the future.   The Nuwara Eliya Cup, a board event for the best aggregate Nett score over three rounds was won by young Kayla Perera with Jaquie Dias finishing as the runner-up.   The Bronze Cup was won by Imman Sangani who scored 299 Gross while Roshani Sangani finished behind with a Gross score of 300.   The prestige and popularity of this championship was reflected by the number of ladies who played in very challenging and unpleasant weather conditions over three days.   This tournament which is played under the flag of the Sri Lanka Golf Union, has the distinction of being supported by the same sponsor from its inception in 1974 to date.   This accolade goes to Mackwoods for their unstinting and continued promotion of ladies golf for over 40 years.   Results   Mackwoods Challenge Trophy Winner: Jackie Dias (80, 85, 75) 240 Gross Runner-up: Taniya Balasuriya (83, 82, 82) 247 Gross   Nuwara Eliya Challenge Cup Winner: Kayla Perera (67, 71, 72) 210 Nett Runner-up: Jackie Dias (74, 79, 69) 222 Nett   Bronze Cup Winner: Imman Sangani (101, 103, 95) 299 Gross Runner-up: Roshini Sangani (95, 103, 102) 300 Gross   Consolation prizes Day 1: Sandya Kumari Day 2: Fran de Mel Day 3: Ahalya Rajan