A weekend of golf with HSBC attracts record number of golfers at RCGC

Chanaka Perera  Overall Winner (A&B) and winner HSBC Premier  Challenge Trophy with Mark Prothero CEO HSBC

Nadeesha, Manjula, Ashok, Dr Manjula and Tharanga

 Ray, Mark, Mahesh, Tissa and Sidath

HSBC’s annual Premier Golf Tournament and HSBC 5-Club Stableford Golf Tournament successfully concluded with record participation with close to 380 golfers at play at the Royal Colombo Golf Club, from 25-27 September. 

Udula Wijesinghe HSBC 5 Club Overall winner 2020

Ahead of the tournaments, HSBC curated an exclusive webinar with Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, champion golfer of 2016 and FedEx Cup winner, that was streamed live for HSBC Premier customers on 22 September, as part of the ongoing HSBC Premier lifestyle series. 

The one-hour session moderated by renowned BBC Sports Commentator – Andrew Cotter was informative and inspiring and gave golfers the chance to pose their own questions to Stenson who provided his candid thoughts and golfing tactics for the benefit of all golfers.       

This year’s tournament saw the highest number of over 180 Premier golfers take part in the HSBC Premier golf tournament held for the eighth year, while over 250 pro-golfers from RCGC played in the annual 5-Club Stableford tournament, with this year marking an important milestone, 25-years of HSBC’s sponsorship.

Chanaka Perera who scored 42 points and was one under gross, was adjudged the overall winner and won the HSBC Premier Challenge Trophy and was also winner of A Division. Roshan Silva was the overall winner in the Seniors and Ladies and C division with a score of 37 points and B/B 9. Nimal Ranchigoda won the B division with 40 points and B/B 9 and Anouk Chitty won the Ladies division with 37 Points, while Nimal Perera won the Seniors division with 37 Points.

The overall winner at this year’s 5-Club Stableford tournament was Air Commodore Udula Wijesinghe who secured the highest score of 45 Points. The Ladies champion was Yun Jeong Choi who scored 34 Points and B/B 9. Winning the A Division was Manjula Chandrasoma with 38 points. The B Division winner was Chamara Abeyratne with 39 points and a better back nine, while the winner of C division was Udula Wijesinghe with 45 Points.

“Thankfully the weather cleared and I probably had my best round in a tournament under 1 gross. I was ecstatic as it couldn’t have happened on a better day than the prestigious HSBC Premier Tournament. Hats off to HSBC who have done a splendid job organising such a fabulous event which was enjoyed by many golfers after a long break due to COVID-19,” said Chanaka Perera.

Roshan Silva commented: “It is the first time that I was able to secure the championship at a golf tournament and I will always reminisce this day with much happiness. I congratulate all the other winners and express my thanks to HSBC for a job well done.”

He further added: “The HSBC Premier Golf Tournament 2020 was an unforgettable experience for me. At a time where most other events and tournaments were cancelled due to the pandemic, this was a refreshing change. I am sure the organisers would have faced many challenges in obtaining approval and carrying out the arrangements for the tournament. However, we as players did not feel any shortcomings and were thrilled to be a part of a well organised program.” 

Having elevated the game in Sri Lanka through ongoing sponsorships like the HSBC Future Lions, HSBC, this year opened up the game for Premier Juniors this year with an 18-hole stroke play to test their skills on the course. Reshan Algama won the 12 and below age group with 75 gross on a B/B 9 and Nirekh Tejwani won the 13-18 age group scoring 71 gross. Whilst Kaya Daluwatte and Kayla Perera was adjudged as runners up in their respective categories.

While congratulating both winners Chanaka Perera and Roshan Silva Nadeesha Senaratne, Country Head of Wealth and Personal Banking further said: “We are delighted at the over whelming response of the two tournaments this year, which got underway in a post-COVID environment. In spite of this challenging time, we were happy to connect our customers and RCGC members with a world renowned golf Champion Henrik Stenson and support their passion for the sport. 

“This year also marked the first Junior Premier event with younger players entering the tournament, which was great to see and we envision a great future for Reshan Algama and Nirekh Tejwani. Golf has become a sport that is enjoyed by the entire family and is part of our customer’s international lifestyle. We will continue to create these experiences as part of our global Premier banking proposition to support the ambitions of our customers.”   

The tournament concluded with the awards ceremony held at the Club House. The complete list of winners is as follows: