118th Burdett Golf Cup postponed

By Shamseer Jaleel

The Nuwara Eliya Golf Club (NEGC) vs Royal Colombo Golf Club (RCGC) 118th Burdett Trophy (Gents) and the 81st Puffin Cup (Ladies), which were scheduled to take place during the end of May, has been postponed due to the current health situation in the country. This blue-ribbon event will take place once the situation returns to normal in the hill country.

The Burdett Trophy was inaugurated in 1902 between Sri Lanka’s two prestigious golf clubs, RCGC and NEGC, 25 years before the commencement of world’s second oldest team golf event, the Ryder Cup, which started in 1927 between United States and Europe. The Burdett Trophy was presented by then Assistant Deputy Commissioner to the Governor, Sir Francis Burdett. NEGC won the inaugural Burdett Trophy. 

The Puffin Cup was introduced in 1936 beside the main tournament, opening doors to lady golfers of the two clubs to compete. C.M. Puffin Lushington presented the cup, and the championship has become a leading ladies golf team event over the years. There are two more tournaments which will be worked off concurrently with the Burdett and Puffin trophy. They are the Masters and the foursomes.

RCGC will have the service of former national youth cricket captain, Capt. Navin de Silva, since this is the 2020 edition of the tournament. The ladies’ golfers will be under veteran Anouk Chitty with the Masters outfit led by Saliya Senanayake. Current RCGC skipper Jehaan Ismail will be the 125th anniversary captain. Meanwhile, NEGC are yet to finalise the captains for this event.

Being an event of rich tradition, the Burdett Trophy teams will be announced during the evening function held on the day before the tournament and the draw will be held on the following morning at the first tee by the two team captains as they exchange the team cards. In the history of Burdett Trophy, RCGC leads the tally of wins.