Fran de Mel wins Ladies Golf Title

S M Jiffrey Abdeen Kandy Sports Correspondent at Victoria

Fran de Mel (Ladies), Sarath Piyaratne (Mens Group A), Arnivan Ghosh (Mens Group A) and Rohit Silva (Men's Group C) walked with honours at the 21st Mercedes Trophy Golf Championship organised by DIMO and conducted by the Victoria Golf and Country Resort and worked off at the beautiful Victoria golf course at Rajawella off Kandy.

A total of 84 golfers took the field and their event depended on their handicap and the winners will be eligible to participate at the Mercedes Asian Golf Championship to be held in Australia from August 8th to 10th. The Victoria golf course as usual was in fine fettle despite the prolonged drought with hardly any rain experienced, the course was beautifully maintained thanks to the efforts of the Course Manager Indu Rodrigo under the guidance of the Australian born General Manager Errol Johnston.

The top event of the championship was Men's Group A for hadicappers 0 to 12 and Sarath Piyaratne displaying exceptionally good skills registered a brilliant 40 Nett getting the better of Japanese Asakuwa Yakiyasu who got 37 and was three strokes ahead making the issue beyond doubt. In third place was former Sri Lanka and National Selector Sidath Wettimuni who scored 35. Sarath Piyaratne getting the better of two top golfers in the country was a big achievement.

Arnivan Ghosh won the Group B championship for handicappers between 13 to 20 which saw a very large field participating. Arnivan Ghosh scored 41 Nett but just one shot behind was Gihan Wickremasinghe making 41 Nett. This was a closely contested battle and a mis-hit somewhere would have resulted in him losing the all important point to come to equal terms with the winner from Japan. In third place was Nimal Perera with 34 Nett.

Another keen contest was witnessed in the Men's Division C for handicappers between 21 to 24 which was won by Rohith Silva with a Nett 43. Tyronne Weerakoddy finished runner up with 34 Nett which was decided on a count back on the last six holes after Iftikar Ahamed came up with a similar score of 34 Nett. Tyronne Weerasinghe on the last six holes had registered 6:13 against 6:12 by his opponent.

The Ladies Championship which was open not withstanding the handicap was won by that dedicated golfer Fran de Mel with STB 43 and three strokes behind was Shema Perera with 40 Nett. In third place was that versatile golfer Niloo Jayatillake who got 38 Nett but being a low handicapper she is in a disadvantageous position when battling with high handicappers as the difference could be very wide. Niloo Jayatillake plays to a handicap of 8.

The results:
Wooden Spoon: Ranjan Metha
Longest Drive Men: Zen Dharmaratne
Longest Drive Ladies: (8th hole) Suwen Selvaratnam.
Nearest to the Pin Ladies: Lalin Mui Dharmaratne.
Rajiv Rajapakse - 12th hole.

Ladies Championship
Winner: Fran de Mel
First Runner up: Shama Perera
Second Runner up: Niloo Jayatillake

Mens Championship Group A
Winner: Sarath Piyaratne
Runner up: Asakawa Yukiyasu
Third Place: Sidath Wettimuni.

Mens Championship Group B
Winner: Arnivan Ghosh
Runner up: Gihan Wickremasinghe
Third place: Nimal Perera

Mens Championship Group C
Winner: Rohith Silva
Runner up: Tyronne Weerakkody
Third place: Ifthikar Ahamed.