EWIS to sponsor Stableford golf

S. M. Jiffrey Abdeen Kandy sports corr.

East West Information Systems (EWIS) will sponsor the 'Lexmark' Stableford golf championship for ladies and men which will be conducted by the Victoria Golf and Country Resort and worked off at the picturesque Victoria golf course at Rajawella off Kandy on Saturday July 25 with the first tee off at 7 a.m.

This golf championship will also coincide with the opening of the state- of-the-art 'Araliya' restaurant at the Victoria Club house by the Minister of Livestock Development and MP for Nuwara Eliya district C. B. Ratnayaka at 6.30 p.m. the same day.

This tournament is sponsored by EWIS whose chairman Sanjeewa Wickremanayake is a top golfer and has excelled on many occasions at Victoria. No entry fee will be charged as this will be borne by EWIS.

Apart from the main competition for lady and gentleman golfers, there will be side competitions for the golfers such as Nearest to the Pin, Longest Drive, etc. and valuable prizes will be offered to the winners.

Already fifty-five entries have been received from golfers from all parts of the island and with about ten days to go, the total number of entries is expected to top the century mark according to the Marketing Executive of Victoria Golf Club Ms Dhanushika Medagoda.

According to distinguished visitors to Victoria, playing golf at Victoria is like playing in a paradise. Set on a lush 500 acre spur surrounded by the Victoria reservoir and hemmed by the stunningly beautiful Knuckles Range of Mountains, Victoria golf course is a secret paradise hidden away in the heart of Sri Lanka and within the once Mountain Kingdom of Kandy.

Voted among the 100 most beautiful golf courses in the world and without any doubt number one in the Asian sub-continent, the Par 73 and 6,933 yards championship golf course equals the finest anywhere.

This course was designed in 1997 by the internationally acclaimed golf course architects Donald Steel and Company and was built and maintained to USGA standards. One of the pioneers of this course is former St. Thomas College cricketer and retired planter Tony Witham who came over from Melbourne in Australia to turf this sprawling course which was once a coconut plantation.

The course at Victoria is so challenging that the sixth hole stands 100 feet above fairway, commanding a breathtaking over the course and to the waters beyond it, demanding exceptional skills to come to terms with it. No wonder that it is recognised as the toughest par 4 in Sri Lanka. Three of the holes in this course is over 500 yards which itself is exhilarating.

The organisers expect not only the local golfers but also from abroad to participate in this competition on a course which was described by the ten times world champion and the European ladies champion Kitrina Douglas. "This will be one of the top ten golf courses in the world and it offers a challenge even to the most accomplished player."

Entries are now open and entry forms could be had from the Pro Shop, Victoria Golf and Country Resort, P.O. Box 7, Rajawella. Telephone 0812-376376. Fax 0812-376369. e-mail: Victoriagolf.lk or www.victoriagolf.lk or contact Dhanushika on mobile 0777-840894.