Zen and Jacquie take the honours in the Etisalat NEGC Championship 2012

By David Ebert

The Etisalat Nuwara Eliya Golf Club Championship 2012 teed off on 26 October with a little help from the weather gods, granting the participants three days of perfect golfing weather, for which was to be a clinical display of skills from both Zen Dharmaratne and Jacquie Diaz who ended up the men’s and women’s club champions respectively this year around, ahead of some stiff competition.  

Twenty two year old Dharmaratne overcame the narrow fairways and a doggedly persistent Amrith De Zoysa, to come in from behind on the final day to post a nett score of 221, earning him the men’s club championship ahead of the much feted favourite De Zoysa, who looked to defend his title with a third consecutive win at the century-old hill country course.

Speaking to the Daily FT after his win, Dharmaratne said, “The course was a joy to play on as always and the conditions were absolutely fantastic with the weather holding up right throughout. As you know the nuwara eliya golf club’s narrow fairways are quite a challenge to anyone who plays here, because it leaves no room for error, so I really had to grind it out on the last day.  “I managed to hit 15 greens including all on the back nine, and to come in from behind to win on the final day is in my opinion, always the best way to do it. So I’m extremely happy with the way I finished up.”

The injury-hampered eight times national amateur ladies champ, Jacquie Diaz on the other hand, looked unfettered on all the three days, managing to maintain her composure throughout, ending up with a nett score of 251, to finish ahead of runner up Dhanushi Senadhira, who lead on the final day by three strokes.

Diaz said, “I had a couple of nervous moments on the 12th, 13th and 14th holes, where the ball was not running due to slightly muddy conditions from the overnight drizzle and the first two days were quite challenging for the long drives as there was a bit of wind as well. However, I must say the club has done a great job with the green overall and I’m happy that I managed to finish up with an eagle on the 5th and seven birdies overall, so all in all it was a great game.” Echoing the sentiments of all present, NEGC President Vernon Tissera, speaking at the awards ceremony commented, “I am extremely pleased with the way the youngsters performed and came through at the end and I am sure I speak for everyone present when I say that they have the makings of sure-fire champions with great futures ahead who will make us all very proud.

“In addition, I would like to thank this year’s sponsor Etisalat for its efforts and contribution in making the NEGC club championship an enormous success and I appreciate its continued commitment to the club, as well as golf overall.”  The event concluded with the presentation of awards to the winners of the special Etisalat Elite category playoffs, which saw a host of Etisalat customers vying for prizes in the event held on the sidelines of the main championship.