Amateur Golf Championship from October 18 to 22

S M Jiffrey Abdeen Kandy Sports Correspondent

The second oldest Amateur Golf Championship in the world - the 124th version of the Sri Lanka Amateur Golf Championship organised by the Sri Lanka Golf Union with the support of the Victoria Golf and Country Resort will be worked off at the picturesque Victoria golf course at Rajawella off Kandy from October 18 to October 22 with the tee off at 7.30 am on each day. The main sponsors are Audi and E-Wis.

The Secretary of the Sri Lanka Golf Union Ana Punchihewa said that this Amateur Golf Championship is younger only to the British Amateur Golf Championship held in the United Kingdom. Golf was a legacy left behind by our British rulers who constructed a number of golf courses in the island and only the Nuwara Golf Course and the Golf Course in Colombo appear to have survived the passage of time. Some of these golf courses were very small like the ones you had Darrawela, Peradeniya, Kundasale and other areas which are no longer in operation and the land put to other use except at Darrawela where this sport is no longer played especially after the nationalisation of estates.

But to the credit of the Sri Lanka Golf Union, this championship is being continued uninterrupted despite the forebodings of our times and the use of large area of lands. It must be recalled that it was when Ana Punchihewa was the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka and it was his vision and planning and the harnessing of the talent of our cricketers which enabled Sri Lanka to win the World Cup at cricket in 1996 upsetting all critics. This was after some of the top nations participating in the World Cup had refused to play in Sri Lanka and this did not prove to be a discouraging factor. Now he is determined to take golf to new environments with the active support of the Union President Tony Witham - a name synonymous with the Victoria golf course and tended this golf course from the time the first turf of grass was planted till very recently when he retired after being in the Board of Directors, General Manager and Consultant at different times.

Ana Punchihewa said that five countries are expected to participate in this championship and this includes India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka who will be fielding two teams namely 'A' and 'B'. Each team will comprise two players. The foreign teams are expected to arrive today - Monday and have practice sessions to get themselves acclimatised to the golf course.

This is the third time the Sri Lankan Amateur Golf Championship is being held at Victoria since it was opened for golfers in 1998. Speaking about Victoria it has been among the 100 most beautiful golf courses in the world and has won the award being the 'Best Golf Course in the Sub-Continent' Coming back to golf, the defending champion of Sri Lanka Amateur Golf championship is Mithun Perera but he will not play this year as he has turned professional. Sri Lanka's golf captain and former champion Kandasamy Prabagaran from Nuwara Eliya Golf Club too will have to give this championship a miss and he also has turned professional.

Sri Lanka's chances of retaining this rest large on the performance of N Thangaraja who is in fine form after being placed 36th in the Asian Golf Championship held in Singapore earlier this month. He beat all the golfers in South Asia and he appears to be our best bet. Then there is also Vijitha Bandara from the Victoria Golf and Country Resort and like Thangaraja he too is in fine fettle having excelled at this year's Pin Fernando Memorial Golf Championship.

The Ladies championship will see some of the top golfers from Sri Lanka like Shyanika Fernando, Niloo Jayatillake, Suwen Selvaratnam, Manori Jayakoddy, Jackie Dias along with Sonia Boyle, Linda Harris, Jyoti Haynes, Roshni Sangani from Victoria along with the foreign ladies vying for honours.

The competition for men will be played over four rounds lasting four days and the winner will be the golfer with the best aggregate. Therefore a lead on the first two days will not ensure the title as there are chances of other golfers staging a recovery and having a title at the prestigious trophy.

When the 119th Sri Lanka Amateur golf championship was held at Victoria, in addition to the main championship there were side tournaments like the Dudley Senanayake trophy. Levers Cup, Victoria Cup, Illankoon Cup, Pin Fernando trophy, RCGC Cup, the Jepson Cup the Lilmani Weeraratne trophy, F De Mel Challenge Cup were worked off alongside and most of these events were fellowship tournaments.