Sanjeewa makes the ' cut-off' in Wellington
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1. B.K. Goonasekara, 26/1, Station Lane, Nugegoda, 2. Milan Alahakoon, 175/17J, Weera Mawatha, Depanama, Pannipitiya, 3. Nathan Amath, 40/41, Katuwawela Road, Maharagama, 4. Faleel Booso, 443/02, St. Rita's Road, Daluwakotuwa, Kochchikade.
Sri Lanka’s Leading Amateur B. A. Sanjeewa made the cut- off at the Royal Wellington Golf Club New Zealand, representing Sri Lanka at the invitation of the World Amateur Golf Ranking Major Invitational AsiaPacific Amateur Championship among Amateurs qualified to receive an ‘ invite’. Lee Min Woo of Australia led the field of 120 top Amateurs at the end of two rounds with a total of 135, 7 under par, 1 stroke ahead of Lin Yuxin of China, with Wools-Cobb, Shae also of Australia a further stroke behind.
Sanjeewa made the cut-off at 148 (6 over par) tied for 53rd place, to advance into the final 2 rounds of the AsiaPacific Amateur Golf Championship, which is the biggest Amateur Championship in the Asia- Pacific and the Winner qualifies to play in the Masters and The Open in Scotland, among the top Golf Professionals in the world.
B A Sanjeewa’s dominance in the PFGP Grand- Prix holding a commanding lead over M H Chalitha Pushpika in second place and M U Chanaka Perera in third place proved the fact that his local performances were comparable on International soil too, with Sanjeewa reaching the Top 60 in the AsiaPacific region ahead of India’s # 1 Ranked player 135: - LEE, Min Woo (Aus) 67, 68- Leader 136: - LIN, Yuxin(Chi) 69, 67 – 2nd 137: - WOOLS –COBB, Shae (Aus) 63, 74 – 3rd 139: -ZHANG, Andy (China) 69, 70 VOKE, Nick(NZ) 67, 72, MARUYAMA, Sean (Japan) 67, 72, GO, Lloyd Jefferson (Phi) 67, 72, MOUNTCASTLE, Kerry (NZ) 69, 70 148: – B A Sanjeewa – Cut- Off too, who failed to make the Cut.
This is probably the first occasion in many years since Mithun Perera made the cut and won this event in Beijing China in 2010, incidentally Sanjeewa also qualified but couldn’t play the final two rounds due to food poisoning.
The achievement to qualify in the top 60 at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Golf Championship is no easy feat and the Sri Lanka Golf Union could be proud of the platform laid to develop the standard of Golf through the conduct of the GrandPrix on a monthly basis. Sri Lanka making its’ presence felt in the region, with a very low population of golfers among giant golfing nations in the AsiaPacific, is a pride to all Sri Lankans. J M D Indika and N Amarapadma both missed the cut-off tied at 159, 11 strokes off the Cut.