Champion golfer Dhanika off to US to play NCAA Golf

Monday, 15 August 2011 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Current Sri Lanka Junior National Champion Dhanika de Silva takes wing to the US this week to start a new chapter in his academic and golf career.

Dhanika will start on a bachelors degree in economics at Hamilton College in New York, a prestigious private college ranked among the topmost national liberal arts universities in the US. Dhanika, who will be on a substantial academic scholarship at Hamilton, will represent the ‘Continentals’ in the New England Small College Athletic Conference playing in NCAA Division III along with Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut, Middlebury, Trinity, Tufts, Wesleyan and Williams; all well respected institutions of higher learning.

“I am very excited to start playing golf at the highest possible level in the US” says the eager eighteen year old looking forward to a four-year experience in America. He adds that he would love to represent Sri Lanka at future tournaments.

The former Royalist and British School student who started golf just five years ago won his first age category championship the very next year. Playing competitive golf at the Royal Colombo, Nuwera Eliya and Victoria he went on to claim the fancied Junior National Championship in 2008 at just fifteen years of age. However, having lost his championship in 2009 the determined youngster played some fantastic golf to reclaim the crown in 2010 leading the runner up by a massive 16 strokes in the 3 day tournament. During the last five years Dhanika has won a number of other tournaments in Sri Lanka and also represented the country in several overseas tournaments including the British Junior Open.