Sri Lanka’s most exclusive golfing event concludes successfully in Nuwara Eliya

The winners with the management of DIMO, from left: DIMO CEO Gahanath Pandithage, Chang Won Sam, Suwen Selvaratnam, Petra Morhard, Thusith Wijesinghe, Maj. Gen. Srinath Rajapakse, DIMO Chairman and Managing Director Ranjith Pandithage, Daimler AG Representative Kenny Ng, Dr. Rohitha Silva, Chandima Rodrigo, Usha De Silva and Kamalesh Johnpillai. Not in the picture: Rohan Fernandez, Ivor Maharoof and Iftikar Ahamed

Their love for competition, challenge and peak performance brought the top golfers of Sri Lanka together in Nuwara Eliya. 

Mercedes-Benz cars, their passionate owners and DIMO recently brought the town alive with the MercedesTrophy Golf Tournament, which is considered to be one of Sri Lanka’s most exclusive and prestigious golfing event. 

The Tournament was held on 23 May at the Nuwara Eliya Golf Club and this year marked the 25th year of the tournament which was initiated in the year 1990. Over 75 golfers and their spouses were hosted by DIMO at the Grand Hotel Nuwara Eliya for two days over the weekend. 

The Nuwara Eliya Golf Club was the ideal setting for the 25th anniversary tournament with stunning landscapes and breathtaking scenery.  MercedesTrophy is yet another opportunity for DIMO to pamper their customers, who enjoy driving the most valuable luxury marque. The MercedesTrophy is a worldwide exclusive series of golf tournaments with more than 65,000 Mercedes-Benz customers from all over the world.

The tournament was played under four handicap groups, while the winner and the 1st runner up of each handicap group will participate at the MercedesTrophy Asian Finals in Brisbane – Australia, and if successful there will compete in the World Finals to be held in Germany in October 2015. 

The complete list of winners is as follows: Division A (Handicap Group 0-12) Winner – Maj. Gen Srinath Rajapakse, 1st Runner up – Thusith Wijesinghe and 2nd Runner up – Kamalesh Johnpillai; Division B (Handicap Group 13-20) Winner – Dr. Rohitha Silva, 1st Runner up – Rohan Fernandez and 2nd Runner up – Ivor Maharoof; Division C (Handicap Group 21- 24) Winner –  Chang Won Sam, 1st Runner up – Chandima Rodrigo and 2nd Runner up – Iftikar Ahamed; and Ladies Group Winner – Petra Morhard, 1st Runner up – Suwen Selvaratnam and 2nd Runner up – Usha De Silva.

Golfers and their spouses checked-in at the Grand Hotel on Friday and were hosted for cocktails on Friday night at the same venue. The tournament commenced at 8:20 a.m. on Saturday, and the golfers were transported between the hotel and the golf club in Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans. 

The grand award ceremony and cocktails took place at the Grand Hotel on Saturday evening with the participation of Mr. and Mrs. Ranjith Pandithage (Chairman and Managing Director – DIMO), Gahanath Pandithage (CEO – DIMO), Kenny Ng (Representative from Daimler AG), Rajeev Pandithage (Head of Mercedes-Benz Sales and Parts), Tharanga Gunawardena (Head of Mercedes-Benz Service), Dinesh Gunaratne (Mercedes-Benz Sales Manager) and the Mercedes-Benz Sales Team.

The gala event provided an opportunity for the Mercedes-Benz customers to interact with their colleagues and the DIMO staff in a friendly, comfortable and cosy atmosphere. The event received positive reviews and the customers took back memorable experiences, irrespective of their performance at the tournament.

A special 25th anniversary cake was also cut during the event by Ranjith Pandithage, Gahanath Pandithage and Kenny Ng. Live updates of the event were aired over Yes FM and Legend FM throughout the tournament and during the awards ceremony. MTV Sports will be airing a one-hour dedicated program on the event.

Spreading north from Grand Hotel Road, Nuwara Eliya Golf Club is beautifully kept and has a reputation of being the most graceful and most challenging golf club in Sri Lanka. The Nuwara Eliya Golf Club, founded in 1889, is one of the oldest golf clubs in Asia and probably the oldest among English Clubs around the world and is enriched with a tradition and an ambience, which is hard to equal.

This year’s registration of customers was done online through the Mercedes-Benz Sri Lanka website. The latest E-Class, C-Class, S-Class and the SLK-Class were on display along with the Jeep Wrangler at the event. Though a brand new SLK was offered as the hole-in-one prize, none of the golfers walked away with it. Gantries along the main roads entering Nuwara Eliya, banners and flags along the Nuwara Eliya town – made the entire town come alive with golf.