Tait creates history

S M Jiffrey ABDEEN-Kandy sports corr reporting from Victoria

Englishman Ian Tait created history when he completed a hat-trick of wins while Sam Gunaratne won the Ebert Pot, Niloo Jayatillake the Pam Fernando Trophy and Pauline Morley the Victoria Bowl at the 13th Donald Steel Gold Championships organized by the Victoria Golf and Country Resort and worked off at the beautiful Victoria golf course at Rajawella off Kandy on Sunday. This championship was sponsored by Carlsberg, Pericyl, Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, James Finlays Insurance and Ceylon Tourist Board too came in a big way with additional prizes as a part of the program to promote tourism through sports.

This golf championship was a roaring success with a very large number of tourists making the trip to Victoria to participate in this prestigious championship. It was not only golf, they also extended their stay to visit places of interest in the hill capital and this is something the Government has been doing.

Heavy rains

Despite the heavy rains experienced during the past few weeks and with wet conditions prevailing but four days of bright sunshine was sufficient to bring the golf course back to its best condition which provided the thrills and the spills to the large number of golfers who teed off. A big bouquet should go to the Course Manager Maheel Bulumulla who did a grand job under the direction of the General Manager Errol Johnston and with the assistance of the support staff.

The Chairman of the Rajawella Holdings Chris Holloway was the chief guest and he distributed the main awards along with Malraj Kiriella (Acting Managing Director – Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Tony Witham, Christe Thornton, Ms Judy Holloway, Ms Ally Thornton. The awards ceremony was compered by General Manager VGCR,Errol Johnston with Marketing Executive Dhanushika Medagoda handling the arrangements in a show which was sparkling.

Donald Steel championship

This is the oldest golf championship of the club to honour the golf architect who designed this wonderful golf course and Donald Steel who is the President of the England Professional Golfers Union could not make the trip to Sri Lanka as the Annual General Meeting of this Union was held the same weekend and his message was read out by the chief guest Chris Holloway.

The Donald Steel trophy is awarded to the gentleman golfer who returns the best gross aggregate over the two rounds and Englishman Ian Tait who is now 69 years displayed excellent physical fitness to carry away the ‘plum’ with a combined total of 57 gross. He got 31 on the first day and followed up with 26 on the second day. Ian Tait had four birdies and missed an eagle by a whisker in the 9th hole which could have been an embellishment to his victory. Ian Tait is the first golfer to complete a hat-trick of wins having won this trophy in 2009 and 2010. The previous best was by Englishman Martin Ebert who won in 2003 and 2004 which was two wins in a row and this was equalled by Ian Tait last year. Martin Ebert too has three wins having won it in 2001.

Top swimmer

Sturdily built Ian Tait since 2003 and has played cricket, rugby, and soccer for Cheshire and is also a top swimmer. Sam Gunaratne was in second place with 52 gross but the runner-up trophy went to Chris Holloway in keeping with the championship rules which permits only one trophy win and Sam Gunaratne had won another trophy in this tournament.

Others to get good scores were Glucka Wijesuriya, a legal luminary practicing in the United Kingdom who appeared for legendary sinner Muthiah Muralitharan eight years when he was finally cleared of the alleged suspect action. He came all the way from England to compete in this golf championship, and so did Sam Gunaratne.

Some of the good scores were G Wijesuriya 46 with Chris Holloway edging him out on a count back on the last nine holes, Rohitha Batapolage 45, Rohan de Silva 42, Richel Hameed 39, Errol Johnston 38, Thusit Wijesinghe 39, Jim Findell 37, Chris Thornton 36, John Taylor 30.

Ebert Pot

This trophy awarded to the Best Nett aggregate was won by cricketer Sam Gunaratne who flew all the way from England to participate in this championship which he has done for the past 8 years. Playing to a handicap of 10 Sam Gunaratne registered a Nett score of 71 – getting 39 on the first day and 32 on the following day. Second placed Chris Holloway playing to a handicap of 12 got 35 on the first round and got a similar score on the second which was the best score on that day. He just missed winning this title. Sam Gunaratne had five birdies and 3 bogeys and a couple of wayward drives cost his winning the Donald Steel trophy.

Others to excel here were Ian Tait 67, Glucka Wijesuriya 66, Rohitha Batapolage 65, Jim Findella 63, Chris Thornton 63, Errol Johnston 62, Rowland Davies 61, Priyantha Kumara 61, Thusith Wijesinghe 61, Robert Kokahoorn 61.

Pam Fernando Trophy

Versatile Niloo Jayatilleke with a gross score of 40 carried away the Pam Fernando trophy which she won last year. This was the fourth time she has won this trophy, having won it in 2002, 2008 and 2010. She was the clear winner having led on the first day with 19 points. Dinali de Zoysa finished second with 34 points. In third place Sonia Boyle with 27 points. Others to register good scores were Linda Harris 24, Jyoti Hayness 24, Pauline Morley 22, Indira Tibblin 20, Manori Jayakody 19, Sue Beck 18, Margaret Dess Penn 17, Ingrid Banm 16.

Victoria Bowl

Expatriates Pauline Morley playing to a handicap of 22 registered a total of 61 Nett to lift the Victoria Bowl, Linda Harris finished a close runner-up with 60 Nett. In third place was Niloo Jayatillake with 58 playing to a handicap of 9. Good scores were also registered by Sonia Boyle 57, Jyoti Haynes 54, Denali de Zoysa 53 (handicap 11), Indira Tibblin 52, and Fran de Mel 50.

[The full results]

Nearest to the Pin (Men) - 1st day: Sam Gunaratne. 2nd day: Mike Holloway.

Nearest to the Pin (Ladies) - 1st day: Jyoti Haynes. 2nd day: Denali de Zoysa.

Longest Drive (Men) - 1st day: Sam Gunaratne. 2nd day: Glucka Wijesuriya.

Longest Drive (Ladies) - 1st day: Denali de Zoysa. 2nd day: Sue Beck.

Victoria Bowl (Ladies nett): 1. Pauline Morley, 2. Linda Harris, 3. Jyoti Haynes.

Pam Fernando Cup (Ladies gross): 1. Niloo Jayatillake, 2. Denali de Zoysa, 3.

Sonia Boyle.

Ebert Pot (Men’s nett): 1. Sam Gunaratne, 2. Rohitha Batapolage, 3. Jim Findell.

Donald Steel Trophy: 1. Ian Tait, 2. Chris Holloway, 3. Glucka Wijesuriya.