Old Trinitians to defend Bradby Golf title

By Shamseer Jaleel

The Old Boys of Trinity will go all out to defend the G.C. Wickremasinghe Challenge Trophy which they won in tandem for the last two years, when they host the annual golf encounter against the Old Royalists at the Victoria Golf and Country Resort Course in Digana on 4 May. Tee off is scheduled at 1:30 p.m.

Trinity 1986 rugby player Bimal Fernando led the Trinity outfit in the inaugural year in 2016 while under Sathis Balasubramanium the Old Trinitians won the event in 2017. This year’s Trinity outfit will be led by Chandima Desinghe and the old Royalists will be led by Andy Anderson. These two were the highest gross individual winners in 2017 for their respective alma maters.

Chandima Desinghe, Old Trinitians skipper stated: “We have seen great enthusiasm this year by many renowned amateur golfers to take part. We’ll see the highest contingent of players from Trinity teeing off to defend the title. It is a pleasure to host the Royalists in Kandy coinciding with the Bradby Shield second leg, the biggest rugby spectacle that happens in Kandy.” Speaking further he said: “I would like to especially thank Asela Wevita and his team at Victoria Golf and Country Resort (VGCR) for all the support and for hosting the event.”

Andy Anderson, the Old Royalists skipper stated: “This is a great way to foster camaraderie and our deep-rooted friendship through golf. Our team wants to personally commend Ravana and Bimal for initiating this annual tournament. A special thanks to the Wickremasinghe family for accepting gracefully to sponsor. We have a team with a lot of competitive spirits and hope for a great day of golf at Victoria. We want to thank all the sponsors, well wishers, and participants.”

With the support of distinguished old boys and avid golfers, Trinity has now initiated golf as an official sport with a squad of 40 young schoolboys undergoing training to learn and master the game and the ambition is to support them in their journey and to develop champion golfers from Trinity coming through in the medium to long term. Bradby Golf will offer them a reason to continue the game and represent their alma mater.

This tournament is growing in popularity, aptly termed as “Bradby Golf”, the old boys will compete for the coveted G.C. Wickremasinghe Trophy, stored in the Lion’s Den for the last two years. The tournament is in honour of renowned G.C. Wickremasinghe who appeared as a crack second row forward of the 1951 Royal Rugby team which is regarded as the “invincibles”. He is an avid golfer and has several golf board events at RCGC under his belt and still tees off at the age of 84.

The tournament will see the best gross and nett individual and team scorers as winners. Principal of Trinity College Kandy Andrew Fowler-Watt will grace the occasion with the awards ceremony taking place at 7 p.m. on the same day at the VGCR premises.

Further, old boys of either school who wish to participate can do so by contacting the respective captains by 2 May – Chandima Desinghe on 077770567; Andy Anderson on 0712745400.