Interclub Golf Championship to be played this weekend

The annual Interclub National Golf Championship will take place this weekend on 18 and 19 March at the Victoria Golf & Country Resort in Digana, with the six clubs from around the country expected to take part.

This year’s event is set to be played with considerable more fanfare than the last, with the Sri Lanka Golf Union (SLGU) under the leadership of Priath Fernando, looking at it as the starting point of a 10-year plan for Sri Lanka to produce world-class golfers.

“Although this is the second Sri Lanka National Interclub Championship, this championship actually has been organised on a much more formal basis compared with how it was done last year. This particular event is now going to continue with this format and hopefully will be an event which our present golf club representatives will take very seriously and vie for this wonderful challenge trophy and get their name in the annals of history of golf in Sri Lanka,” said SLGU President Fernando.

With the advent of golf courses and facilities in various parts of Sri Lanka under the auspices and management of the defence service forces, the opportunity to introduce golf to students, juniors and the general public has now become possible.

“This basically is a historic occasion as far as I’m concerned even though it’s the second interclub tournament. I think over the next few months we will be rolling out our plans, but I can say that we now have a 10-year plan in place to ultimately produce world-class golfers,” he added, unofficially revealing plans to approach parents and children to pursue golf as opposed to other sporting avenues such as cricket.

In the years after the civil war ceased, the Sri Lanka Air Force established top quality golfing facilities in Trincomalee, Eagles Golf Links, Heritage Golf Club in Anuradhapura and another nine-hole golf course in Koggala. Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Navy has constructed a beautiful Aqua Driving Range in Welisara and a nine-hole links golf course by the sea, the Sandy Bay Golf Links in Trincomalee. The Diyathalawa Army Golf Cantonment is also currently under reconstruction with a view to upgrading the present golfing facility.

In this context, the two oldest golf clubs in Sri Lanka, the Royal Colombo Golf Club and the Nuwara Eliya Golf Club, together with teams from the Sri Lanka Air Force, Sri Lanka Army and Sri Lanka Navy, will challenge 2016 champions the Victoria Golf & Country Resort for the 2017 Challenge Shield.

This year the format will be on Stableford points on the net scores with each member club entitled to enter a maximum of five teams comprising five golfers per team. Each member club can select their respective teams and vie for honours.

In addition to the Interclub Championship there will be an Overall team trophy for the best team of five from the entire field of participants, including private teams of golfers who are not playing for a particular club.

The main sponsor of the event will be the Prime Group of Companies with a sponsorship to the tune of Rs. 250,000. “The promotion, development and growth of golf depends on the awareness and interest created by golf as a sport, as an industry and as a career path being a better alternative to cricket. Such support is required from sponsors and of course the media,” SLGU stated in a media release.

“The SLGU recognises the Prime Sponsor of the event, Prime Group, the water refreshment sponsor Sun Aqua, beverage sponsor Elephant House soft drinks, Ceylon Brewery and Special Prizes Sponsor SriLankan Airlines, our National Carrier, Goodwill Sponsors Pership Exotic Asian Living and BAM Green Solar, who have partnered the Sri Lanka Golf Union in making the 2nd Sri Lanka Interclub Golf Championship a memorable event.”

The first day’s play tomorrow will be followed by a traditional 19th Hole ‘post mortem’ - an all-night, could have been, should have been scenario. Day 2 will have the traditional SLGU events which have been played for over 50 years, with teams of three randomly drawn up, facilitating all golfers to participate with no restriction on handicap. Ladies and seniors are also eligible and selected to play for their respective clubs of choice.

Pix by Ruwan Walpola