Lankan juggernaut kept rolling on Danusha Perera wins inaugural Douglas de Silva scholarship
In a bid to produce world beaters, Sri Lanka Golf Union ( SLGU), with courtesy of golf promoter Dilhan de Silva unveiled their inaugural project, the ‘ Douglas de Silva Scholarship’ at the Royal Colombo Golf Course in Colombo. The scholarship is presented to an outstanding and underprivileged promising golfer who could be a future prospect in the amateur as well as the professional circuits. 20-year-old Danusha Perera won the inaugural scholarship which was on offer after a stern selection criterion.
The selection panel comprises the donor of the scholarship, Dilhan de Silva, and members of the SLGU, Dilhan Fernando and Priya Fernando. Young golfers under the age of 25-years-old who does not possess membership at any golf club in the country will be eligible for the scholarship programme. The winner will receive a professional set of golf clubs and training in both local and overseas in addition to receiving the much needed boost to reach the professional level.
“The selectors after a long process has selected Danusha Perera as the promising golfer for 2011. This is the first of the annual scholarship scheme that will be offered by the De Silva family. They wanted everything done in a low profile but we at SLGU think projects as such needs to be highlighted. The De Silva family has great links with Sri Lankan golf and this is part of their intention to develop the sport in Sri Lanka,” said Ana Punchihewa, the secretary of SLGU.
The De Silva brothers, Dilhan and Harin had conveyed their intention of making their father’s wish of helping budding and deserving golfers of Sri Lanka. Their father Douglas de Silva was a keen golfer who was much into charity and helping promising golfers reach the top. Interestingly Timothy de Silva, the duo’s grand father was the first Sri Lankan to win the local National Amateur Golf championship, the world second oldest amateur golf tour- nament, in 1923. According to Priya Fernando, this project is a ‘ dream come true’ to the De Silvas who is keen to see Sri Lanka go forward in golf.
“We had young players from the national development squads, as well as the caddies who could swing the club among the list. Eventually Sureshan, Iroshana Prasad and Perera reached the final three. Perera who won the scholarship for 2011 was quite impressive and he managed to convince the selectors easily.
Apart from the two requirements, we greatly considered on their commitment level. This is a good signal for golf in Sri Lanka.
We have seen players like Nandasena, Anura Rohana, Mithun Perera, and N. Thangaraja coming in from underprivileged backgrounds to reach the professional level. Like the De Silvas we hope others will come forward to assist SLGU in developing our young talent,” Fernando pointed out.
Punchihewa further elaborating on the project said that the scholarship could be evaluated as quite substantial for a budding golfer. “Golf is an expensive game which less economically privileged people can’t afford.
This is just the beginning and in years to come we hope to see more youngsters take up golf instead of popular sports. Sri Lanka’s future of golf looks safe and our aim is to deliver world beaters,” Punchihewa stressed.