NEGC clinch 117th Burdett Trophy with spectacular fight back

NEGC RCGC Team

NEGC Team win

Nuwara Eliya Golf Club (NEGC) carried away the Burdett Trophy when they beat Royal Colombo Golf Club (RCGC) in their 117th annual encounter worked off at the Royal Colombo Golf Club course on 20 July.

The stage was set for an absorbing day of golf as the 117th Burdett Trophy between Royal Colombo Golf Club and Nuwara Eliya Golf Club took centre stage at the famed fairways of RCGC last Saturday. The Burdett Trophy which in fact is the second oldest Golf Tournament in the world and has survived two world wars is conducted with much tradition and camaraderie between these two leading golf clubs in the country. The day long tournament also featured the 80th Puffin Cup between the ladies of these two clubs along with the Masters Trophy and the 125th Anniversary Trophy which is played as a four-ball format.

The proceedings commenced on the day before evening as the Team introductions were made at the cheese and wine evening hosted by RCGC. Following the hoisting of the flags by the respective captains of the two clubs, the ladies teed off first with the foursome format of play on a bright Saturday morning with strong winds adding up to the challenge. Teeing of next were the Burdett Foursomes followed by the Masters and the 125th Anniversary Teams.

The ladies returned with shared points of two wins to each team whilst the Burdett foursomes were in favour of RCGC with a lead of two matches. Their experienced Burdett campaigners in Sheron Fernando, Avanka Herath, Noordeen Sethwala, Shiran Fernando, Rajiv Rajapakse along with young Darren Hall displayed consistent skill and focus. 

A gutsy performance by the NEGC captain, Priyanga Hapugalle and Manjula Chandrasoma surprised many as they won over the much fancied and highly talented RCGC duo of Sachin De Silva and Suhaib Sangani to secure the sole win for NEGC.

Later that morning the RCGC Masters team came in having made a clean sweep by winning all four matches and the 125th Anniversary Trophy was also won by RCGC by a margin of 10½ to 4½ to NEGC. 

The focus now turned towards the singles matches of the two major tournaments in the afternoon session.  The NEGC ladies fought their way through to win three out of the four singles and win back the Puffin Cup. Anouk Chitty, Roshini Sangani and young Kaya Daluwatte making her debut on the big stage won their matches for NEGC.

With a deficit of two matches in the foursomes, the NEGC Burdett team had an uphill task to win six out of the eight singles that afternoon in order to secure the 117th Burdett Trophy. Kushal Johnpillai romped home early as did the veteran Air vice Marshal Harsha Abeywickrema, winning their matches against the two scratch golfers in the RCGC line up. 

The cool-headed Chanaka Perera and Chandana Weerasinghe, playing consistent golf brought in the next two wins. Then, as the exciting young talent of Armand Flamer Caldera secured yet another win, it lifted the spirits of the NEGC supporters who sensed an unlikely win for the team as the tournament climaxed towards the final two matches in play. 

The RCGC captain, Shiran Fernando who had won his doubles match that morning pushed hard for the RCGC team with a nail-biting win on the 18th hole over the portly Affli Raheem and the spotlight now fell on the final match between Manjula Chandrasoma and the evergreen Ranil Pieris.

Continuing from his superb form that morning, Manjula was three up approaching the 14 hole when Ranil kicked in with some controlled aggression to win the next two holes on the trot. Supporters from both teams waded towards the 17th hole expecting yet another nail-biting finish as in the last year. Ranil was somewhat tentative on his drive whilst the coolheaded Manjula drove with confidence to set himself up for a regulation par. Nerves were certainly at play at this stage as Ranil pulled his second shot to the water hazard and Manjula almost followed suit, but saved himself by a few feet away from danger.

The end was now inevitable and Ranil eventually conceded the hole and the celebrations flowed as Manju emerged a hero with two wins for his team and helped secure a remarkable win for NEGC at the 117th Burdett Tournament.

A visibly emotional and delighted NEGC President Maj. Gen. Srinath Rajapakse congratulated his battle hardened team for the superb fight back as the prestigious Burdett Trophy made its way back to the cooler climes of Nuwara Eliya later that evening and after six long years.