Mastercardpartners NEGC to promotegolf tourism in Sri Lanka

• Supports club’s efforts to make ‘Little England’its hub

The NuwaraEliya Golf Club (NEGC) will host the first-ever Invitational Inter-Nation Golf Tournament in NuwaraEliyaat the end of this month.

Over 100 local and foreign golfers are expected to participate, the club announced.

From left: Club Captain  Firaz Hameed, NEGC President Maj. Gen Rajapakse,Ch17 loyalty CEO Jumar Preena, Sandun Hapugoda of MasterCard and Dialog Enterprise Group Chief Officer Jeremy Huxtable

In a bid to promote one of Asia’s oldest golf courses and the oldest and most scenic among the rest of the courses in Sri Lanka, the NEGC will conduct an inter-nation tournament on 31 March in NuwaraEliyawhich will see participants from over 14 overseas golf clubs.

The NEGC aims to make this an annual tournament with the objective of transforming Nuwara Eliya, fondly referred to as ‘Little England’ by seasoned travellers to Sri Lanka, as a hub to promote golf tourism.

In association with various organisations within Nuwara Eliya such as hotels, restaurants, private boarding and villas, cafes and tourist centres in the area, the club envisages making it a “national sporting event”,NEGC President Maj. Gen Srinath Rajapakse told the media at a media launch held in Colombo on 7March.

We have the potential to stage such an event of international standard, NEGC Captain Firaz Hameed pointed out. Playing a round of golf in Nuwara Eliya is an enthusiast’s dream. Its serene environment and cool climate isideally suited for a game, Club Vice-Captain Priyanga Hapugalle remarked.

The President thanked Mastercard for coming forward to sponsor the tournament and also agreeing to promote the event amongst its affiliated overseasclubs. 

To mark the event, Commercial Bank released the first ever sports-related credit card to the market. They introduced the premium World MasterCard with exclusive offers and local and internationalprivileges.

Channel17 loyalty has been appointed loyalty service provider for the card, bringing in a range of prominent consumer brands to the network. NEGC members will be eligible for these offers throughout the year. 

The world MasterCard can also be used as the Membership ID as the card also carries the NEGC Membership number.

Commercial Bank DGM (Marketing) Hasrath Munasinghe (right) exchanges sponsorship with Club member Sachin de Silva

Teams from the following countries have indicated their willingness to participate in the tournament: 

India, China, the UK, Japan, Australia, the Maldives, Singapore, Pakistan, South Korea and Sri Lanka as well as several other nations from Asia, Europe,Northern America and Scandinavia.

There will be a total of 100 golfers, including four ladies from England and Sri Lanka. The players are senior members of golf clubs in their respective countries, most of whom are golf enthusiasts. The NEGC has reciprocal status with most international golf clubs.

Special tour packages, including local transport and accommodation, have been offered by Classic Tours, while Bethany 101 will provide discounted rates for accommodation in their exclusive facility in Puttalam. Arrangements have also been made by Zam Gems for a tour of their different facilities in Kandy for those willing to take a peek at their showroom.

The tournament will be played in a stableford point format. Each team can field a maximum of 24 male and female golfers with a valid club handicap. The top three cards of each team will be counted to fete the team with the highest tally of stableford points. Gents, Ladies and Masters (Over-55 years) will play off their respective tees.