Local lad Dhuwarshan takes inaugural boys’ title, Taniya Balasuriya carries away girls’ title

Nuwara Eliya Junior Open Golf Championship 

The historic 128-year-old Nuwara Eliya Golf Club, a members-only club, in an effort to support and foster the national golf program, conducted a junior open tournament at the picturesque Nuwara Eliya golf course recently. 

It is indeed commendable that the current club committee under the stewardship of President Srinath Rajapakse and Captain Firaz Hameed saw it fit to conduct the event without restricting entry to the membership and keep it open to all eligible juniors throughout the country. Furthermore, the tournament is now set to be an annual event on the NEGC golf calendar. This is a laudable initiative of this prestigious institution and follows on with the club vision to introduce and foster the sport among local schoolchildren who are also provided with free coaching by the club professional. 

The tournament was played in difficult and cold conditions of mist and rain typical of Nuwara Eliya weather. Nevertheless, the event was a great success with over 70 youngsters competing for top honours with prizes being awarded in the Gold Division (15-18 years), Silver Division (12-14 years), Bronze Division (10-11 years) and Copper Division (9 years and under). As per the tournament rules, only those in the gold and silver divisions who played the full 18 holes were eligible for the Junior Open titles.

Almost fittingly and in keeping with the club’s vision, 14-year-old Dhuwarshan of St. Xavier’s College, a product of the golf clinic program of NEGC and a relative newcomer to the sport, clinched the boys’ title, although playing in the Silver Division, with a superb gross score of 76. The favourite for the girls title Taniya Balasuriya, secured her win easily by eight strokes over rising star Kayla Perera, who promised much early on but disappointed once again and had to settle for the runner-up spot.  

In the individual divisions, Vinod Weerasinghe took the Gold Division with a score of 79 from Armand Flamer Caldera, who shot a gross 80 and once again seemed to have lapses in concentration at crucial times. Kayla Perera took the Silver Division as expected but was made to fight tooth and nail by Dilshan Malinda, with both finishing with identical scores of 86. Kayla was eventually awarded the division on better scores on the back of six holes.

The Bronze Division played over 14 holes saw stiff competition amongst the juniors but eventually Nirekh Tejwani of Colombo International School won easily with a clear four-shot win. However, in this age group three youngsters fought hard for honours, with Yannik Kumara taking the runner-up spot followed closely by Sherin Mithara and Shanal Binuksha.

The juniors in the Copper Division, the youngest age group played over just nine holes, showed keen competition and a whole lot of enthusiasm. Finally a local boy, C. Dharaniyan of Our Lady’s School in Nuwara Eliya, won the division with a score of 47, managing to edge out little  Shenuk Fernando by four strokes. Close on their heels were tiny Kvahn Tejwani and Jacob Norton. As further testimony to the growing interest in the sport, this division was eagerly contested with solid participation and showed encouraging signs of future talent. 

The event was sponsored by Dialog. The detailed results are as follows:   

NEGC Junior Open Golf Championship 

Boys’ winner – 

S. Dhuwarshan

Girls’ winner – 

Taniya Balasuriya

Gold Division (Age Group 15-17 years)  

Vinod Weerasinghe 79  

Armand Flamer Caldera 80  

S.D.S Dilshan 81  

Januka Dilshan 90  

Silver Division (Age Group 12-14 years)  

Kayla Perera 86 B/B 6  

Dilshan Malinda 86  

Haroon Aslam 90  

K. Danushan 94  

Bronze Division (Age Group 10-11 years)  

Nirekh Tejwani 63 

Yannik Kumara 67  

Sherin Mithara 70 

Shanal Binuksha 71 

Copper Division (Age Group 9 and Under)  

C. Dharaniyan 47  

Shenuk Fernando 51 

Kvahn Tejwani 53 

Jacob Norton 54