The highlands of “little England” saw crowds in the lush green surroundings of the Nuwara Eliya Golf Club at which the opening round of the Sri Lanka Open 2017 was Teed-off in cold windy conditions with a little bit of rain here and there which truly put the skills and practice of 72 golfers to a serious test where they faced the starter.
Two time Sri Lanka Open winner who emerged victorious in the 2014 & 2015 Opens, K. Prabagaran, the local star who was well seasoned with unpredictable variables such as the dynamic ground and weather conditions, shot an amazing 6 under par round studded with 7 birdies. The seven time Champion R A Anura Rohana with his last win from 2012 too pulled off a great performance that was only second to Prabagarn’s with an under par, 4 strokes behind him. Anura Rohana shot 3 Birdies and an Eagle on the 10th in his quest to keep up with the leader but dropped shots on 8th, 13th& 15th to finish on 2 under par where Sisira Kumara followed on even par in 3rd place. Mithun Perera, B A Sanjeewa, B G Lalith Kumara tied in 4th place on 2 over par. Thangaraja who won the recent Royal Colombo Golf Club Open and who is a regular in the PGTI had a tough day in office when he was tied in 9th place on 5 over par.
The CAT SOLAR Pin Fernando Grand Prix August Edition is played concurrently with 71 entries where G P Sisira Kumara led the field with an even par 71, 2 strokes ahead of B A Sanjeewa on 73, with M U Chanaka Perera in 3rd place a further stroke ahead. The Pin Fernando Grand Prix ranking table is closely contested with many experienced golf players who are all in top form and eyeing the silverware at the top. The series is sponsored by UTE – Cat Solar and it will see its conclusion in December. While the golf rankings are still open to be contested, B A Sanjeewa holds a slender lead currently when he will be going in to the August edition.
The Sri Lanka Open 2017 created much enthusiasm among the top Sri Lankan Professional Golfers playing alongside the Sri Lankan top Amateurs Sanjeewa, Amarapadma, Sisira Kumara, Sachin De Silva the RCGC Club Champion 2016 & 2017 among others. Softlogic Holdings the Principal Sponsor, CAT SOLAR the Co-sponsor made the Sri Lanka Open 2017 possible. Goodwill sponsors among the membership joined IMMORICH from Elephant House too to distribute a Prize Purse of Rs. 1, 000, 000. 00
SRI LANKA OPEN 2017 Standings after Round 1
65 – K. Prabagaran
69 – R A Anura Rohana
71 – G P Sisira Kumara
73 – Mithun Perera, B A Sanjeewa, B G Lalith Kumara
74 – M U Chanaka Perera
75 – R Pathmanathan
76 – G M Pradeep Kumara, N, Thangaraja
77- Vijitha Bandara, Uchitha Ranasinghe
78 – N. Amara Padma
CAT SOLAR AUGUST EDITION Standings after Round 1
71 – G P Sisira Kumara
73 – B A Sanjeewa
74 – M U Chanaka Perera
76 – G M Pradeep Kumara
77 –Uchitha Ranasinghe
78 – N. Amarapadma
79 – J M D Indika, R. Sureshan, T. Akash
81 – Chalitha Pushpika
