The media briefing for the Junior Open Golf Championships-2014 was held yesterday at the Royal Colombo Golf Club. This year`s Sri Lanka Junior Open Golf Championship sponsored by Prima Sunrise Bread for the seventh consecutive year, will be held from 15th to 17th December at the Royal Colombo Golf Club, morning play.
The inaugural Sri Lanka Junior Open was held in 1968 which was won by Miss Druki Fernando. It is the most prestigious tournament for young golfers in Sri Lanka and over seventy players are expected to battle it out for top honors indicating the growing popularity of the sport in the country. It is a tournament that is open to both boys and girls under the age of 18 years and is the most prestigious junior tournament in the Golfing calendar. It is conducted by the Sri Lanka Golf Union who uses it as a platform to identify potential talent to play at national level.
This event will be conducted according to the following age groups; 15-17 (Gold Division), 11-14 years (Silver Division) and 10 years and under (Bronze Division). The overall winner will be declared Sri Lanka Junior National Golf Champion for the year 2014. Prima Sunrise is the main sponsor of this tournament and will provide nutrition for all the players during the tournament. The commitment to the development of the sport has been extended to broad base regionally and thus has also scheduled to sponsor Regional Junior Open in Kandy and Nuwara Eliya in 2015.
Mr. Priyath Fernando speaking in conference stated that fact the union is discussing plans on how to uplift the sport and carry it to the International Level up to Olympic Games in 2016 and the best is yet to come. Mr Lal Dias thanked the Armed Forces for coming forward and allowing them to use the golf courses which helps them to organize the Championship in different locations.
This year`s tournament is likely to see the talents of Lamindu Rainika, Ishira Fernando, Taina Balsuriya battling for the top spots.
The head table consisted of Mr. Sajith Guneratene: Head of Business Development and Marketing- Prima Foods, Mr. Shun Tein Shing: General Manager-Ceylon Agro, Mr. Lal Dias: Chairman- Golf Union, Mr. Priyath Fernando: Vice-President and Chairman of the committee for development of Golf and Mr. Micheal Magala: Captain-Colombo Golf Club.
