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Wednesday, 21 January 2015 00:15 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
From left: Solar Therm Chairman Lakshman Jayasuriya, Royal Colombo Golf Club Vice Captain Ranil Pieris, Srilanka Golf Union President Lal Dias, Tournament Director Dian Abeyewardene, UTE-CAT GM-Marketing & Administration Nalin Manorathne - Pic by Shehan Gunasekara
Practice rounds and the qualifying round of golf will be played on 26 January with round one and two of the main event to take place on 27 and 28 January. At this juncture and after 36 holes the top 35 to 40 players will be selected to claim a share of the staggering prize money up for grabs.
The third and final rounds of golf will be played on 29 and 30 January respectively, followed by an awards ceremony. Entry forms are available until the latest date for registration at 2.00 p.m. on 22 January from the RCGC, NEGC, VGCR, Eagle’s Golf Link, Sandy Bay Golf Resort, SLAGA (Diyathalawa) with a non-refundable entry fee of Rs. 2,000. Last year the event attracted about 130 golfers with almost 200 applicants expected to apply this year, most of whom are members of the above mentioned clubs. The Pro Am event alone is to be limited to 126 participants.
UTE-CAT will be sponsoring the Challenge Trophy for Gentlemen Members on 27 and 28 January which will be played concurrently with the Solar Therm Sri Lanka Open while the Pam Fernando Trophy for Ladies will be played on 29 and 30 January, preceding the final two rounds of the Open.
This is the highest prize money being made available to winners of the golf open in all its 44 years , dating back to the inaugural tournament held in 1970 and while the exact allocation is yet to be decided the Golf Union announced that the winner of this year’s tournament will take home no less than Rs. 400,000.
Tournament Director Dian Abeywardena said: “Last year we distributed Rs. 1 million. The winner got Rs. 200,000. We are proud to tell you that this year the minimum prize from 35th to 40th places will be Rs. 10,000 which is Rs. 4000 more than last year and the winner will take home a minimum of Rs. 400,000 this year. So the top five will make quite a bit.”
High stakes with top local names and foreign players
The high stakes of prestige and purse are also expected to attract many top ranking international golfers as well as many excellent Sri Lankan golfers, according to Abeywardena.
He added: “We are getting five top Indians. and Zen Dharmaratna from Malaysia as well as Kyle De Silva from the US flying in for the tournament.”
Furthermore a statement released to the press detailing some of the players who are expected to take part painted a vibrant picture of the level of local talent that can be expected and stated that Zen Dharmaratna ranked 29th in the Malaysian pro golf tour in 2014 and will also throw down his challenge sponsored by CML-MTD to participate alongside Mithun Perera the Sri Lanka star of 2014 who finished the Asian tour ranked within the top 40 to earn himself a full Asian tour card and invitational slots to play in the European tour as well.
Anura Rohana, the seven-time winner of the Sri Lankan Open, Kandasamy Prabakaran, the defending champion, Thangaraja, Vijitha Bandara, Lalith Kumara, Tissa Chandradasa and M. Amarapadma complete an outstanding field of professional golfers lined up to make the Solar Therm Sri Lanka Open a sensational event.
The amateur challenge is expected to be led by Amrith De Soysa, Russi Captain, Sisra Kumara, Alain Gyi, youngsters Prashantha Peiris, and Ishira Fernando with the possible inclusion of Kyle De Silva, Sachin De Silva and Zaffar Sikkander all of whom are studying overseas and will make the trip for this important event. N. Ranga the latest amateur to turn professional, RCGC pro Jehan De Saram and the veteran seven-time champion, the legendary Nandasena Perera too may tee-off to add further glamour to the event.
Future of the game
Speaking of the standard of the game in Sri Lanka, Abeywardena said: “The standard of golf in Sri Lanka is very high. Our skill level and talent is extremely high. If you compare our cricketers with the rest of the world they are up there. Our golfers are the same.”
However, he elaborated that the initial cost of the game has made it a challenge to find talent in Sri Lanka even though it is available in abundance.
“You can find talent anywhere but the day Sri Lanka develops further will be the day Sri Lanka has a public golf course. That’s the day we can compete with the world. Public golf courses mean a facility where there is a driving range and putting green and a small area for anybody on the street to pay a small amount of money and try their hand. If you can pay Rs. 100 and play 100 balls and think ‘Hey I can do this’, then you have found talent. This is the only game that has a great demand for mind, body and spirit. Tiger Woods was voted the best athlete of the world three years in a row, beating skiers, ice hockey players and marathon runners, proving the physical and mental element of the game. It’s not easy to play four rounds of golf.”
