Prima Sunrise Bread to sponsor Sri Lanka Junior Open Golf Championship 2015

From left: Ranil Peiris, Captain RCGC and SLGU Council Member SLGU, Ms Niloo Jayatilake, Chairman Junior Subcommittee  and SLGU Council Member, Tan Beng Chuan,  Group General Manager, Prima Group Sri Lanka, Shun Tien Shing, General Manager of Ceylon Agro Industries, Prima Group Sri Lanka and Sajith Gunaratne– Senior Business Manager and Senior Marketing Manager of Ceylon Agro Industries ,Prima Group Sri Lanka

This year’s Sri Lanka Junior Open Golf Championship, sponsored by Prima Sunrise Bread for the eighth consecutive year, will be held from 15-17 December at the Royal Colombo Golf Club, morning play.

It is the most prestigious tournament for young golfers in Sri Lanka and is expected to witness participation from Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Colombo, thanks to the popularity of the sport growing at regional levels in Sri Lanka. This has culminated from the successful junior development programs being conducted by the local golf clubs with the support of the Sri Lanka Golf Union.

Also, the holding of Regional Junior opens this year in Nuwara Eliya and Kandy, which was also sponsored by Prima Sunrise Bread, has been instrumental in developing the talent locally. It is believed that future national representation would come from the young talent that is being developed and more tournament opportunities would create the platform for the juniors to shine. Over 70 junior golfers are expected to participate in the upcoming tournament. It is a tournament that is open to both boys and girls under the age of 18 years and is the most sought after tournament in the golfing calendar. It is conducted by the Sri Lanka Golf Union and the principle sponsor Prima Sunrise Bread.

Past champions of this tournament who have gone on to be professionals are Nandesena Perera, Mithun Perera, Lalith Kumara and Anura Rohana. Also golfers such as Binupa Wijesinghe, Alain Gyi, Ranil Peiris and Rusi Captain have all gone on to become Sri Lanka’s top amateur golfers. Last year’s winner was 18-year-old Lamindu Rainika who unfortunately will not be playing this year. However, we are likely to see stiff competition in the open category for the national junior title from Armand Flamer Caldera, S. Flamin, Buddika Jayalath, T. Akash, S. Kailas and Prashan Pieris.

This event will be conducted under four age group categories and the championship is open to players from any age group. The age group categories are as follows – 15-17 years (Gold Division), 12-14 years (Silver Division), 10-11 years (Bronze Division) and 9 years and under (Copper Division). The overall winner will be declared the Sri Lanka Junior National Golf Champion for the year 2015.

The Prima brand has been committed to building a long-term relationship with the SLGU and has been a key driver in promoting the sport among youth and uplifting the standards of junior golf in Sri Lanka. Also, the sponsorship commitment extends to the Regional Junior Opens to be scheduled in the year 2016.

The sponsorship cheque was given by Ceylon Agro Industries Prima Group Sri Lanka General Manager Shun Tien Shing, and Senior Business Manager & Senior Marketing Manager Sajith Gunaratne. The Captain of the union Ranil Peiris represented the Sri Lanka Golf Union along with Council Member and Chairperson of the Junior Development Subcommittee Niloo Jayatilake.

This year’s tournament is likely to see the talents of Tania Balasuriya, Sathsara Dilshan, Kayla Perera, Hiruna Siegera, Levon Niyarepola, Vinod Weerasinghe, S. Flamin, S. Praveenraj, Nirekh Tejwani, Yannik Kumara, Mahisha Hirushan and Vikash Tangadore battling for the top spots in their respective age group categories.