Bally’s boosts SL Open Golf Prize to Rs. 2.5 m

Bally’s Entertainment General Manager M.S.R Hameen (4th from left) hands over the sponsorship cheque to SLGU president Nimal Piyaratne. Others from left: Bally’s Entertainment Asst. Manager Kasun Wijesinghe, Bally’s Entertainment Marketing Coordinator Lasith Hettiarachchi, Committee Chairman Priath Fernando, Bally’s Entertainment Regional Marketing Manager Telles Loy and Regional Marketing Operations Manager Chitraka Sandaruwan - Pic by Upul Abayasekara

The 2015 Sri Lanka Open Golf Championship will take place at the end of this month from 31 January to 5 February with a minimum total prize money of Rs. 2.5 million on offer - up Rs. 500,000 from last year. 

The champion will receive at least Rs. 400,000 or 16-18% of the total prize pool. The boost in prize money comes as a result of the involvement of Bally’s Entertainment, who on Monday signed a sponsorship agreement with event organisers the Sri Lanka Golf Union (SLGU) to be title sponsors for the “Bally’s Sri Lanka Open 2015,” which will be held at the Royal Colombo Golf Club (RCGC).

The tournament’s history stretches back to 1970, where it started as a means by which to get caddies and other non-members of the RCGC involved and playing the game. That inaugural tournament was won by a gentleman named Premadasa, who eventually went on to become the Assistant Pro to the European Tour. Since then the tournament has grown steadily and this year will welcome 15 international and local professional golfers, six of whom will be from neighbours India.

Defending champion K. Prabagaran will be looking to make history by being the first player to win three years running. He will though be provided stiff competition, not only by the international pros, but also his fellow local professionals such as National Amateur Championship winner Dineshkanthan Thangaraja, and six-time open champion Anura Rohana. Another past winner Amarapadma, and Lankan Pros on the Indian tour Lalith Kumara and Vijitha Bandara are also in contention for the title. Other local golfers who could pose a challenge will include K.A. Chandrasena, Arumugam, Harrison, Sisira Kumara, Ranga and popular RCGC Pro Jehan de Saram.

One pro however, who will not be taking part this year, is Mithun Perera, due to his participation in the Asian Tour in Myanmar.

A maximum of 120 players will be accepted, with a pre-qualifying round to be held on 1 Feb if the number of entries exceeds that amount. If not, the day is slated to be used for practice. The main tournament, which will take place from 2 - 5 February, will see the field of players cut down to 40, where they will take part in four rounds of stroke play golf to be crowned champion.

“The Royal Colombo Golf Club is proud to host this tournament. It is one where excellent golf is encouraged, as this is one where there is no handicap involved,” explained RCGC Ranil Peiris, adding that the course was in pristine condition ahead of the tournament.

Held concurrent to the main tournament will be several other events, such as the UTE CAT Championship for gentlemen and the Pam Fernando Championship for ladies. As a precursor to the main tournament the inaugural Inter-club Golf Championship will be held on 31 January; this will see teams from member clubs of the SLGU compete for supremacy in a Stableford format, where members will be allowed to compete with the pros. The top 11 scores of each team will determine the eventual winner.