Local lad Dhuwarshan takes Boys' title while Tanya emerges Girls' champ
The historic 128-year-old Nuwra Eliya Golf Club (NEGC), a members only club in an effort to support and foster the national golf programme, conducted a Junior Open Tournament at its picturesque golf course in Nuwara Eliya recently. It is indeed commendable that the current club committee under the stewardship of President Srinath Rajapakse and Captain Firaz Hameed saw fit to conduct the event without restricting entry to the membership and open to all eligible juniors throughout the country. Furthermore the tournament is now set to be an annual event of the NEGC golf calander. This is a laudable initiative of this prestigious institution and follows on with the club vision to introduce and foster the sport among local school children who are also provided with free coaching by the club professional.
The tournament was played in difficult conditions of cold, mist and rain typical of a Nuwara Eliya weather. Encouragingly however the event was a great success with over 70 youngsters competing for honours with prizes being awarded in the age group categories Gold Division (15 – 18 yrs), Silver Division (12 – 14 yrs), Bronze Division ( 10 – 11 yrs) and Copper Division (9 and under). As per the tournament rulesonly those in the Gold and Silver divisions who played the full 18 holes were eligible for the Junior Open titles.
Almost fittingly and in keeping with the clubs vision 14-year-old Dhuwarshan of St. Xavier College, a product of the Golf Clinic Programme of NEGC and a relative newcomer to the sport clinched the boys title although playing in the Silver Division with a superb gross score of 76. Favourite for the girls title Taniya Balasuriya, secured her win easily by 8 strokes over rising star Kayla Perera, who promised much early on but disappointed once again and had to settle for the runner-up spot. Vinod Weerasinghe (79) Armand Flamer Caldera (80) S. D.S Dilshan (81) Januka Dilshan (90) Kayla Perera (86) - B/B 6 Dilshan Malinda (86) Haroon Aslam (90) K. Danushan (94) Nirekh Tejwani (63) Yannik Kumara (67) Sherin Mithara (70) Shanal Binuksha (71) C. Dharaniyan (47) Shenuk Fernando (51) Kvahn Tejwani (53) Jacob Norton (54)
In the individual divisions, Vinod Weerasinghe took the Gold Division with a score of 79 from Armand Flamer Caldera who shot a gross 80 and once again seemed to have lapses in concentration at crucial times. Kayla Perera took the Silver Division as expect- ed but was made to fight tooth and nail by Dilshan Malinda, both ending up with identical scores of 86. Kayla was eventually awarded the division on better scores on the back 6 holes.
The Bronze Division, played over 14 holes, saw stiff competition amongst the juniors but eventually Nirekh Tejwani of Colombo International School won easily with a clear 4 shot win. However, in this age group three youngsters fought hard for honours with Yannik Kumara taking runner-up spot followed closely by Sherin Mithara and Shanal Binuksha.
The juniors in the Copper Division, the youngest age group played over just 9 holes, showed a keen competition, and a whole lot of enthusiasm. Finally a local boy, C. Dharaniyan of Our Lady School in Nuwara Eliya, won the division with a score of 47 managing to edge out little Shenuk
Fernando by 4 strokes. Close on their heels were tiny Kvahn Tejwani and Jacob Norton. As further testimony to the growing interest in the sport, this division was eagerly contested with good participation and showed encouraging signs of future talent. The event was sponsored by Dialog.