Golfers gear up for Mercedes Trophy Sri Lanka Country Finals

By Cassandra Mascarenhas

Sri Lanka’s top golfing community is set to gather at the Victoria Golf Club this week in order to be a part of the renowned MercedesTrophy Sri Lanka Country Finals, which will be held on 30 April for the 20th consecutive year.

Deputy CEO of DIMO Gahanath Pandithage (left) and General Manager of the Victoria Golf Club Errol Johnston – Pic by Daminda Harsha Perera

The event boasts of being the most exclusive sporting event in the Sri Lankan sporting calendar; a gathering of the most elite golfing community where participation is limited to owners of Mercedes-Benz, Jeep and Chrysler vehicles.

The select event will be sponsored by the Diesel & Motor Engineering PLC (DIMO), the general distributors for Mercedes-Benz in Sri Lanka this year around as well, as it has done so since the inception of the tournament in the country.

“This is the largest amateur golf tournament in the world, culminating in the world final which will be held in Stuttgart, Germany. Over the past 20 years, we have sent over 120 golfers to the Asian finals and 20 of them performed well enough to be eligible to participate in the world finals,” said the Deputy CEO of DIMO Gahanath Pandithage.

Of these 20, three Sri Lankan golfers have so far reached the pinnacle of the MercedesTrophy by becoming winners. It will be conducted in Stableford format from which eight participants from this year’s tournament, which has attracted over a 100 golfers, will advance to the Asian finals. The top winners in each handicap category will qualify for the Asian final, with an all expenses paid trip to Australia.

The event is a highly anticipated one among the golfing community solely due to the prestige and the rewards that await the winners, who also stand a chance to compete in the MercedesTrophy Asian Finals and if successful there, will go on to compete in the world finals in Germany. Keeping to tradition, the climax of the series, the much anticipated world finals, for years has been held in and around Stuttgart which is often referred to as the ‘cradle of the automobile’.

“We are delighted to have been selected to host the tournament this year in order to select who will go on to represent the country in the Asian finals in a tournament that is held in most countries across the world.

However, ours is a tough course, much longer and testing than the other two golf courses in Sri Lanka,” cautioned the General Manager of the Victoria Golf Club Errol Johnston.

He went on to say that although the adverse weather conditions had resulted in the golf course suffering, it had recovered over the past six weeks and was back to fantastic condition.