New gear for oldest golf | Sunday Observer

New gear for oldest golf

13 January, 2019
Air Chief Marshal Harsha Abeywickrema receiving the sponsorship cheque from Dammika Jayaweera (left) GM Tyres.
Air Chief Marshal Harsha Abeywickrema receiving the sponsorship cheque from Dammika Jayaweera (left) GM Tyres.

The second oldest golf tournament in the world, the Sri Lanka Amateur Golf Championship will be held at the Royal Colombo Golf Club (RCGC) course from January 20 to 24.

The oldest Amateur golf tournament is the British Championship.

This will be the 2018, 131st Championship that will be conducted by Sri Lanka Golf, the controlling body for the sport in Sri Lanka. Two Indian golfers have confirmed their participation while some are expected from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Thailand.

The Sri Lanka Ladies Amateur Open Golf Championship will also be played concurrently.

The Amateur championship will be sponsored by Continental Tyres while the Ladies Open will be sponsored by Look Amazing Private Limited.

The Parlakamedi trophy which is a team event, is played on the first day between Indian and Sri Lankan teams.

The other event for the Zia-ul-Haq Trophy will be played on the second day between teams from Sri Lanka and Pakistan only.

The championship will be on the wonderful course that has undergone rehabilitation process for the past six months. “The tees have been redone and the course has been extended by about 200 yards that will make it very challenging to the golfers,” said Avancka Herath the captain of the RCGC. There is also an extra hole made in the course but will not be used during this championship.

These details were revealed at the media briefing on Tuesday at the RCGC.

The event is also the feeder for top golfers to perform well and move ahead as a career in their futures. There are a few golfers who have turned professional and are doing well in the Asian region.

“The course is looking good as plenty of work has been done to upgrade all aspects,” said retired Air Chief Marshal Harsha Abeywickrema president of Sri Lanka Golf. He also said that golf cannot make much of a progress due to lack of sponsorships.

Suren Rajanathan, the Executive Director of Douglas and Sons said that they have never sponsored a golf event before but this time they saw the potential to do so as RCGC members drive cars that will use Continental tyres in the future.

Sri Lanka Golf is expecting some 100 entries for the men’s event while 25 ladies are expected to contest their event.

 

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