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Golf Event

Tata Housing Celebrating Srilankan Independence

 Tata Housing Development Company is a key player in real estate development in India. Tata housing is now venturing to Sri Lanka with real estate township projects in Colombo.

Recognized for its quality construction, ethical and transparent business practices, high standard of maintenance and timely delivery of properties, TATA Housing has  pioneered the concept of property development by corporate in India and are now to do the same in Sri Lanka .

Celebrating Sri Lankan Independence, Tata housing is sponsoring inaugural ‘Sri Lankan Independence Day Cup Golf Tournament’ at Royal Colombo Golf Club on the 31st January 2015 in association with Sri Lankan Airlines Pernod Ricard Lanka

The tournament was organized by Wizcraft and received a phenomenal response from golfers of Colombo with over 200 golfers participating in tournament.

Ambassadors were given special invitations to play in the tournament . The Ambassadors of India , China , Myanmar & Pakistan played in the tournament .

The tournament commenced with flag hoisting and Lamp lighting by the Captain of the Club  Mr. Micheal Perera Magala at 6.30am followed by  a Shot gun start at 7:30am for 100 players and afternoon Shot gun start at 1:30pm for another 100 players.

The tournament had four groups for Mens :

DIVISION A 0-019 handicap
DIVISION B – 10 – 18 handicap
DIVISION C – 19-28 handicap
MASTERS for Age 55+ 
The Awards Ceremony took place at  Royal Colombo Golf Club .The top five winners won all paid golf holiday  to  one of the finest golf resorts  in Asia. The tournament was well received by RCGC members & dignitaries who attended event and the organizers came in for high praise.

RESULTS
Sri Lankan Independence Cup 2015
Masters – Men’s
1st Mahasena Jayatilake 40c
2nd Rohan Rodrigo 37pts

Division A – Men’s
1st Rajeeve Rajapaksa 40c
2nd Micheal Perera Magala 37c

Division B –Men’s
1st Manoj Algama 40c
2nd Wasantha De Silva 37c

Division C – Men’s
1st A D S Gunasekera 38c
2nd Liu Hongguang 36c.

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Young Prabhakaran the Open champ tries his luck in B’desh

by LAL GUNESEKERA

K. Prabhakaran is his name. He is a budding golfer and has no connections with LTTE supremo Prabhakaran. Golfer Prabhakaran is the talk of the town, both here in Colombo and in Nuwara Eliya in particular where he established his name as a golfer with a fine display to bag the Sri Lanka Amateur Open Championship which was worked off for the first time on stroke-play system on his ‘home’ course last week.

He won by 4 strokes over the strong favourite Lalith Kumara, who had a miserable fourth-round score of 80 after he even equalled the course record (65) in the third-round and scores of 73 and 66 in the first and second rounds. Prabhakaran had scores of 72, 70, 66 and 72. Both Prabhakaran and Lalith Kumara (captain of team) together with Tissa Chandradasa and Amarapathma who finished in third and fourth places respectively at Nuwara Eliya left yesterday (Saturday) to play at the Bangladesh Amateur Open Championship in Dhaka on December 11, 12, 13 and 14. This too is a stroke-play competition.

Speaking to the Sunday Observer Prabhakaran, said that he returned from Abu Dhabi after a two-year stint as Course Marshall at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club in July. He said that he did not get the opportunity of playing frequently in Abu Dhabi (he figured in only two tournaments in the two years) and decided to return to his motherland. The Sri Lanka Open Amateur Championship was his first big success.

Prabhakaran, who is now 23-years-old, started golf when he was only eight years of age. As usual, where these caddies are concerned, their home was near the NEGC and seeing the “mahathayas” playing this sport, he too got interested. He studied at St. Xavier’s in Nuwara Eliya, but only upto Year nine and since his first tournament in 1992, has been gradually climbing the ladder of success, by winning all the titles for offer at the NEGC for the Caddies. He won at the Victoria GC too in 2001 and was richly awarded with a Honda motorcycle.

His late father was involved in the vegetable trade, while his mother worked as a farm hand.

Prabhakaran’s elder brother, Savundraraja (24) too played golf in Sri Lanka, but he too is now serving as a marshall at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club. His younger sister, Dharshini (13) is yet a student at a convent in Nuwara Eliya. Prabhakaran, who is employed at the NEGC Pro Shop is engaged to Krishnakumari who has qualified to enter university.

Prabhakaran said that he gets a lot of assistance from members of the NEGC who had even donated a set of “clubs” for his use and other equipment needed. Even the Captain of the NEGC, Sunil Jayakoddy, has helped him a lot, and was very pleased that Prabhakaran won the Sri Lanka title at Nuwara Eliya where Jayakody is the captain. Coincidentally, when the last Sri Lankan to win the title – Anura Rohana (who has now turned professional) won at the RCGC, the RCGC captain was Shiran de Soysa with Jayakoddy serving as President of SLGU, and when Prabhakaran won at Nuwara Eliya, Jayakoddy is the captain of NEGC and De Soysa the President of SLGU.

Prabhakaran’s ambitions – to bring honour to the country and not let down the persons who have been helping him right along.

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Mithun Perera, posterboy of Sri Lankan golf, makes a mark

mithunpereram

Mithun Perera hates golf. He is passionate about gathering stamps. He proudly boasts of having collected roughly 50,000 stamps from all over the world by visiting post offices of every city he travels to for tournaments.

He has also stamped his class in the sport inspite of his dislike for it.
“I hate golf,” the short and stocky Sri Lankan adds, rather unconvincingly. “I play just to earn my living. I love football. I used to play a lot. By playing golf, I have become like a football.”
For someone with such loathing for the sport, Perera has been taking giant strides and almost single-handedly brought Sri Lanka on the map of pro golf.

He did that again on Thursday, when he equalled the course record at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club, outclassing some of the top Indian pros in the process. His score of 8-under 62 in Round Two of the Louis Philippe Cup, an IPL-style competition, helped his team Navratna Ahmedabad leapfrog to the top of the table in the eight-team tournament.

Sri Lankan golfers have been making waves on the Indian tour of late. Two of them feature in the top five of the Order of Merit and Perera, second on the table behind Anirban Lahiri, has been leading the charge. But the journey hasn’t been a smooth one. Because the country was embroiled in ethnic strife, there was hardly any time for sport. Golf in particular.

Impact of civil war

Perera was 11 when the sport felt the biggest impact of LTTE’s activities. “I was very young and can’t recall the tournament’s name. In 1997, Sri Lanka was to host its first professional tournament; equivalent to the Avantha Masters in India,” he says. “But on the eve of the tournament, the city (Colombo) was rocked by bomb blasts. The tournament was cancelled and the sponsors, who had invested a lot of money, never returned.”

After that incident, sponsors were hard to come by and professional golf never really became popular. “We did not have proper roads, how could we dream of having golf courses? Sponsors too stayed away from the sport, it was too big a financial risk,” Perera says.

Sri Lanka has only three golf courses, — in Colombo, Kandy and Nuwara Eliya. The players are amateurs and since golf clubs are not affordable, most have learnt the art by using makeshift equipment made of palm tree branches.

In such circumstances, the 27-year-old has been fighting an uphill battle and following the footsteps of his father, Nandasena, who is considered to be among the all-time greats in his country.
He depended on donations from individual golf enthusiasts and started competing on the Indian tour. He became the first Sri Lankan to have multiple wins on the

Golf Event

Standard Chartered Open 2014 kicks off local golfing calendar

The Standard Chartered Open 2014 will once more bring a professional golf event sanctioned by the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) to Sri Lanka to be held at the Royal Colombo Golf Club. The four day tournament scheduled from the 6 to 9 February 2014 will field over 100 professional golfers who will compete for the prize of USD 50,000. Standard Chartered Open 2012 winner Mithun Perera and Indian golfing stars Shiv Kapur and Anirban Lahiri will once more grace the event.
Standard Chartered Chief Executive Officer Anirvan Ghosh Dastidar, an avid golfer himself, commenting on the bank’s title sponsorship said: “The Standard Chartered Open is a reiteration of our support to highlighting Sri Lanka as a destination of choice for golfers. Not only will local players have the opportunity to compete against the best of the PGTI tour but also the exposure to international players will help improve techniques and standards. This year too we would be delighted if we do see a local winner as we did in 2012.”3120
Standard Chartered’s title sponsorship of the Standard Chartered Open 2014 affords local players the opportunity to showcase their talent at an international event. The PGTI has proved a springboard for the development of golf in India and provided opportunities for Indian professionals to compete at higher levels.
The Standard Chartered Open 2014 is being co-promoted by Pro Golf Ltd., a Colombo based golf marketing and product distribution company and Sports Mantra, a Delhi based sports marketing and events company. Pro Golf Managing Director Chandana Weerasinghe speaking of the event said: “Standard Chartered open 2014 is a 71 hole stroke play competition with a field of up to 120 professional players and 6 amateur players. It will be an exciting four days of golf and already there is much enthusiasm and anticipation of the event. The refurbished greens of the RCGC will provide excellent challenges to the competitors with its par 71 course and beautifully landscaped fairway.”
He also added, “The generous support of Standard Chartered for golf in Sri Lanka will definitely take the game to a different level and will help local talent to improve their careers – which is much needed support in Sri Lanka.”

NEWS

Dialog Enterprise Tees Up International Golf

Written by Dishan De Saa ,

Dialog Enterprise, the corporate solutions arm of premier connectivity provider Dialog Axiata PLC has become the proud title sponsor of the Dialog Enterprise International Tournament.

The major professional golf tournament to be held in Sri Lanka will tee off from the 5th to the 8th of December 2013 at the Royal Colombo Golf Club (RCGC).

The Dialog Enterprise International Tournament has already confirmed the participation of about 100 top international professional and amateur golfers from the Asian golfing circuit who will battle it out at the RCGC. The practice rounds leading to the tournament will be worked out on the 3rd and 4th of December at the same venue.

Hosting this ProAm tournament would make it possible to host the PGIT and AGIT tournaments in Colombo which would also attract top professional golfers from the European circuit.

Padamjit Sandhu, Director, PGTI, said, “We are delighted to stage the inaugural Dialog Enterprise International in partnership with Dialog. The tournament will further strengthen our presence in Sri Lanka and provide our members yet another opportunity to play in different conditions outside India.”

“The event reaffirms PGTI’s growing stature as a strong platform for players from the South Asian region to gain competitive experience and make their presence felt on the higher tours. We wish the players all the best and thank the sponsors, the promoters and the Royal Colombo Golf Club for supporting us in staging this event,” Padamjit Singh Sandhu further said.

The Royal Colombo Golf Club, one of the most prestigious Golf clubs in the country and a true golfing challenge was established in 1880 and is the oldest golf club in Sri Lanka. The par 71 course measures 6,560 yards through a varied ‘landscape’ of fairways, trees and water bodies.

“Golf’s popularity has increased tremendously over the years and in this tournament we will see international and national golfers performing on the same platform, hence we are in for a fantastic weekend of golf at the RCGC.”

Chandana Weerasinghe, MD of Pro Golf and Promoter of the first ever modified Stableford format is excited about the format and possibly on coming Sunday, a person way behind the leaders can have a great round and win the event.

“It was time to make some changes to the normal stroke play format and to see this shape up the way it has should help grow the sport. I thank Dialog for seeing this new opportunity and supporting this event as always has been,” Chandana Weerasinghe, MD Pro Golf said.

Earlier this year Dialog Enterprise hosted an invite only tournament which attracted diehard golfers from leading blue chip companies.

“Dialog has always been associated with different types of sports. On this occasion, we are delighted to be the official patron with a classic sport like golf and be a title sponsor of the Dialog Enterprise International Tournament,” Jeremy Huxtable, Chief Officer at Dialog Enterprise said.

Dialog Axiata PLC, a subsidiary of Axiata Group Berhad (Axiata), operates Sri Lanka’s largest and fastest growing mobile telecommunications network. The Company is also one of the largest listed companies on the Colombo Stock Exchange in terms of market capitalization. Dialog is also Sri Lanka’s largest Foreign Direct Investor (FDI) with investments totalling over USD 1.5 billion.

Dialog has been at the forefront of innovation in the mobile industry in Sri Lanka since the late 90’s, propelling the nation’s mobile telephony infrastructure to a level of advancement on par with the developed world. The company delivers advanced mobile telephony and high speed mobile broadband services to a subscriber base in excess of 8 Million Sri Lankans, via 2.5G and 3G/3.5G and 4G networks. In April 2013, the company secured the distinction of becoming the first service provider in South Asia to launch mobile 4G FD-LTE services. The company was also the first service provider in South Asia to launch 3G services in 2006. Dialog also provides a comprehensive suite of International Roaming Services across a global footprint comprising of more than 200 countries, and operates a wide portfolio of international telecommunication services, including but not limited to retail and wholesale international voice and data services.

Dialog Axiata supplements its market leading position in the Mobile Telecommunications sector with a robust footprint and market presence in Sri Lanka’s Fixed Telecommunications and Digital Television markets through its fully owned subsidiaries Dialog Broadband Networks (Private) Ltd (DBN) and Dialog Television (Private) Ltd., (DTV).

DBN is Sri Lanka’s second largest Fixed Telecommunications provider. DBN serves residential and enterprise customers with voice, broadband, lease lines and customized telecommunication services. DBN has the distinction of being the first telecommunications operator in Sri Lanka to launch 4th Generation LTE High Speed Broadband Services. DBN is also a leading provider of Radio and Optical Fibre based transmission infrastructure facilities. DTV operates a Direct-to-Home (DTH) Digital Satellite TV service and is the market leader in Sri Lanka’s Pay TV sector. DTV supports a broad array of international and local content in both Standard Definition (SD) and High Definition (HD) formats alongside a wide portfolio of Sri Lankan television channels and delivers high quality infotainment to a viewer base in excess of 275,000 Sri Lankan Households.

Dialog is an ISO 9001 certified company and has received numerous local and international awards including the National Quality Award, Sri Lanka Business Excellence Award, and 3 successive GSM World Awards. At the SLIM-Nielsen People’s Choice Awards 2013, Dialog was voted by Sri Lankan consumers as the Telecom Service Provider of the Year in addition to being named the Internet Service Provider of the Year.

NEWS

Dialog Enterprise committed to enhancing the quality of golfers in Sri Lanka

Dialog Enterprise, recently concluded a golf clinic conducted by both Sri Lankan and Indian golf professionals at the Royal Golf Club. The golf clinic was opened for both children and adults, reiterating the ability of a corporate to enhance the quality of a sport and its professionals.

The golf clinic gave Dialog Enterprise customers the opportunity to learn the right techniques, movements, stance, and grip that is demonstrated by professional golfers. Two of the coaches at the clinic were Sri Lanka’s best and Dialog Enterprise sponsored, Mithun Perera and K.  Prabakaran who took part in the SLPA Open 2013. Dialog Enterprise, Gold sponsors for the SLPA Open 2013 is committed towards nurturing the sport of golf in Sri Lanka and has taken on the responsibility of sponsoring Mithun Perera ranked first in Sri Lanka and K. Parabakaran who ranks number three, thereby allowing them to participate in international golf tournam

Golf-Clinic-2

Dialog Enterprise’s dedication in promoting this uncommon sport gave participants a rare chance to learn from experienced golfers with each participant receiving a certificate in completing the clinic.

“The game of golf has grown in popularity in the last few years hence there are more children becoming interested in the sport and I can see the level of talent that they possess. By nurturing their talent and encouraging them we would be able to see the game of golf emerge and bring prestige to Sri Lanka,” said Dialog Enterprise Chief Officer Jeremy Huxtable.
Dialog has always been the frontrunner of Innovation in Sri Lanka’s Mobile industry, and has supported many prestigious events. They launched their services in 1995 as the 4th entrant to Sri Lanka’s Cellular Market and was the first digital network in South Asia. Being also the first operator in Asia Pacific to deliver international roaming in 1997 Dialog Axiata presently has the largest number of subscribers and revenue share with regards to its mobile network.

 

 

NEWS

Dialog Enterprise to support two golfers

The ‘Sri Lanka Ports Authority Open 2013’ golf tournament was held last week. The Sri Lanka Ports Authority was the title sponsor while Dialog Enterprise was the gold sponsor of the event.

“The SLPA Open 2013, was held at the Royal Colombo Golf Club with a a record number of participants and the biggest prize money of $ 70,000 for a golf tournament in Sri Lanka,” a spokesman for the company said.

Dialog Enterprise will sponsor two of the top golfers in Sri Lanka, Mithun Perera and K Prabagaran at all local and international level golf tournaments in 2013.

“Professional golf is still at a nascent stage in Sri Lanka although we have professional players who can represent the country internationally. Dialog Enterprise believes that our support and commitment will assist these players to take Sri Lanka to the next level,” said Chief Officer, Dialog Enterprise, Jeremy Huxtable.

“Golf is a prestigious game. I am lucky to have the support of Dialog. Their generous sponsorship will help me to take my game to another level. I thank the management of Dialog and Chandana Weerasinghe for their support,” said Mithun Perera.

Dialog Enterprise is the corporate solutions arm of Dialog Axiata.

NEWS

Sri Lanka set to host second major Professional golf event

Colombo, Sri Lanka, April 3, 2013: At the media briefing held to announce the Golf Tour of India professional golf tournament, at the Royal Colombo Golf Club from April 16 to 19, 2013. (Pic by Ranjith Wimalasiri)

The Professional Golf Tour of India is set to stage the first professional golf tournament in Sri Lanka this month when over 100 top golf professionals will tee off at The Royal Colombo Golf Club, in The Sri Lanka Ports Authority Open 2013.

Sri Lanka Ports Authority will be the title sponsor.

The tournament will be played at the historic Royal Colombo Golf Club from April 16 to 19, with top professional golfers from Sri Lanka, India and other countries, who will vie for the US$70,000 event (LKR 9,000,000.00).

The tournaments will feature professional golfers of the likes of Shiv Kapur, Anirban Lahiri, Himmat Rai, and Chiragh Kumar, along with local golfing stars and prominent PGTI members – Mithun Perera and Anura Rohana.

Local amateur golfers will tee off in the tournament alongside the professionals, allowing for much needed exposure to the amateur golfers.

The Sri Lanka Ports Authority, already a keen supporter of golf in Sri Lanka, sees this event and its subsequent development over the next few years as a natural progression in raising the sport’s profile in the country.

Dr. Priyath Wickrema, Chairman, Sri Lanka Ports Authority, said, “The Sri Lanka Ports Authority is proud to be associated with the season’s first professional golf tournament in Sri Lanka and towards the growth of the game. We have been supporting various sporting activities and are very keen to take the lead to promote the growth of golf, and it is a great start to have these world class professional golfers coming over to Sri Lanka. With a history of over 34 years in supporting more than 14 sporting disciplines in Sri Lanka, we are definitely proud that the Royal Colombo Golf Club, has been given the opportunity to host such a prestigious tournament, creating history in Sri Lanka.”

Capt. Nihal Keppetipola, Managing Director, Sri Lanka Ports Authority added, “it has brought a golf event of international standing to Colombo and has served the purpose of popularising golf in Sri Lanka. Golf is the most popular game among the maritime fraternity. At the end of the PGTI game, a Pro-Am will be hosted by SLPA, Dialog, BTL Shipping and other sponsors, which will ensure the participation of many high profile golfing personalities, who will be flying down to Sri Lanka to take part in this tournament. I am sure we will all enjoy and most importantly, amateur golfers will benefit most, seeing these professional players in action and by playing with them.”

Integral to the success of The Sri Lanka Ports Authority Open 2013 is the support given by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau in facilitating key functional aspects of the event and providing a range of marketing and promotional channels to platform the tournament’s exposure and profile. Golf is a major tourism driver throughout the world, and the bureau is looking to support golf in Sri Lanka as part of its tourism brief for the country.

“Golf tourism is a significant element in many countries’ visitor profiles. The Ministry of Tourism is delighted to see new initiatives such as The Sri Lanka Ports Authority Open 2013 and are keen to provide our support to the event, not only to establish Sri Lanka on the world’s sporting map as a quality golfing destination, but also to project the country’s many positive benefits and unique features to a wider audience,” said Rumy Jauffer, Managing Director, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau.

Jeremy Huxtable, Chief Officer for Dialog Enterprise, sharing his thoughts on the tournament and golf at large said, “Dialog Enterprise has stepped forward as the Gold Sponsor for the SLPA Open 2013 tournament as well as the amateur qualifying rounds, based on the firm belief that the support of a strong corporate who will be integral in driving any sport in this country by providing much needed support to players as well as the governing bodies for any given sport. This formula of engagement with a sport has proved to be successful to Dialog when it comes to football, rugby and to a certain extent, cricket in this country. The engagement with golf in powering not just the occasional tournament, but the rising stars of Sri Lanka golf like Mithun Perera, who is incidentally the number 1 player in Sri Lanka, who are currently on the professional circuit, is a reiteration of that belief and engagement Dialog has with sports in general.”

The venue chosen to host the tournament, The Royal Colombo Golf Club, one of the most prestigious golf clubs in the country and a true golfing challenge was established in 1880 and is the oldest golf club in Sri Lanka. The par 71 course measures 6,560 yards through a varied ‘landscape’ of fairways, trees and water bodies. “The Royal Colombo Golf Club is very proud to host The Sri Lanka Ports Authority Open 2013, and to support golf in Sri Lanka, as it takes its rightful place in the professional tour ranks. I am sure all the players and officials will receive a wonderful welcome and really enjoy the RCGC experience. We look forward to a successful tournament and it becoming a well established event in Sri Lanka’s sporting calendar,” said Nimal Piyaratne, Captain, Royal Colombo Golf Club.

Professional Golf Tour of India Director, Padamjit Singh Sandhu expressed his gratitude to the Sri Lanka Ports Authority for its support for golf. Sandhu believes professional golf in the Sri Lanka will continue to grow with continued support from the corporate sector. Sandhu further said, “we are delighted to stage the inaugural Sri Lanka Ports Authority Open in partnership with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority. This new addition to our schedule offers our members yet another opportunity to play outside India. The Sri Lanka Ports Authority Open will further contribute in positioning the PGTI as the premier professional tour in the South Asian region. We wish the players all the best and thank the sponsors, the promoters and the Royal Colombo Golf Club for supporting us in staging this event.

“We are delighted to see our commitment and interest becoming reality and organising the second professional golf events to nurture golf in the country. The staging of such international events is an essential element in any country’s golfing development and we are very pleased to be able to play our part in raising the profile of the sport in Sri Lanka. Real credit and thanks should go to The Sri Lanka Ports Authority, The Ministry of Tourism, Dialog Enterprise and The Royal Colombo Golf Club for their support for the event and all other co-sponsors and the players. We are fortunate in having good relationships with many of the players and they have been really supportive of our initiative in committing to the tournament and helping to create such a strong field,” said Chandana Weerasinghe (Pro Golf) and Neeraj Sareen (Sports Mantra).