The UTE – CAT Challenge Trophy and Pam Fernando Trophy golf tournaments were concluded today at the Royal Colombo Golf Club course. These are among the many tournaments held concurrently with the Bally’s Sri Lankan Open, which is currently underway.
Both tournaments were conducted in a two round format for the best aggregate gross score. The fight for the UTE CAT Challenge Trophy was intense and ended in a tie. With a total score of 165 each, Prashan Pieris won the title, edging past Rohan Fernandez on a countback. Prashan played two very consistent rounds with a score of 82 on the first round and 83 on the second. Rohan on the other hand had a marvelous first round with a score of 73, but fell short on the second with 92.
Anouk Chitty won the Pam Fernando Trophy 2016, which is a women’s tournament, with a total score of 162. Tania Balasuriya came in a close second with a score of 164. Both players had steady rounds with Anouk scoring 79 on the first and 83 on the second, and Tania scoring 81 on the first and 83 on the second. A special prize was given out by Rachel Raj –Fashion to Song Ting Luo who scored a ‘Hole in One’, which is a very rare feat. The Pam Fernando Handicap 36 & Below event was won by Irene Scarth who tallied 146. Sumithra Ukwatte fought valiantly but came in second with a score of 147.
The UTE – CAT Challenge Trophy for Handicap 14 & Below was won by Rohan Fernandez with a score of 139. Dayananda Ukwatte came in second with a score of 144. However, there was a close fight for the UTE CAT Challenge Trophy for Handicap 15 – 28. Viran Perera won this title with 143 points, scraping past Gamini Jayaweera who fell short of just one point with 144.
The Sri Lanka Golf Union Seniors Championship 2016 also took place during this time. This event was played for two trophies, namely, the Dr. L. V. R. Fernando Trophy and the Havelock Trophy. Rohan Fernandez triumphantly raised both the said trophies with a score of 165 and 139 respectively. Dayananda Ukwatte came in second for the Dr. L. V. R. Fernando trophy with 168 and C. P. Ryan came in second for the Havelock Trophy with a score of 143.
There were many notable players in the tournaments conducted. Rohan Fernandez being the most notable. Having won 3 events and coming runners up (via countback) in the UTE CAT Challenge Trophy, it was clearly his day. Youngster Prashan Pieris hailing from S. Thomas’ College, who won the UTE CAT Challenge Trophy also deserves a special mention. Young Tania Balasuriya too is a golfer to watch out for having come runners up in the Pam Fernando Trophy.
The second day of the Bally’s Sri Lankan Open too concluded today. N. Thangaraja who is ranked 13th in the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) extended his lead of 4 strokes in the 1st round to 6 shots at the halfway stage of the 04 Round Sri Lankan Open. Thangaraja returned a subdued but effective 2 under par in the second round to stand alone in the lead 6 strokes clear of the nearest rival Lalith Kumara. Defending Champion K. Prabagaran was also under par for the day, carding a 69 to be tied in 3rd place with M. Dharma, of India at Even Par.
The Cut-off for the Open was applied at 164 with 42 Golfers making it through to the last two Rounds vying to win the prize money of Rs. 2.5 million.
