Major professional tour golf is set to make its debut in Sri Lanka in August when over 100 top golf professionals tee off at The Royal Colombo Golf Club at The Standard Chartered Open 2012, an event sanctioned by The Professional Golf Tour of India (the “PGTI”) as part of its 2012 schedule.
The four day tournament, scheduled for 15 to 18 August, will feature a strong field with leading Indian players – Shiv Kapur, Anirban Lahiri, Himmat Rai, Chiragh Kumar and Digvijay Singh – as well as local golfing stars and prominent PGTI members – Mithun Perera and Anura Rohana – all committed starters in the battle for the prize money on offer USD 50,000.00 (Rs. 6,500,000.00). Local amateur golfers, including six members of the Sri Lankan National Golf Team will tee off in the tournament alongside the professionals.
Title sponsor Standard Chartered, already a supporter golf in Sri Lanka, sees this event and its subsequent development over the next two to three years as a natural progression in raising the sport’s profile in the country. Standard Chartered CEO Anirvan Ghosh Dastidar said, “Standard Chartered is proud to be associated with first ever professional golf tournament in Sri Lanka and towards the growth of the game. We have been supporting the game and keen to take the lead to grow the sport and this is a great start to have these world class professional golfers coming to Sri Lanka. With a history spanning over 150 yes in Sri Lanka we are definitely proud that Royal Colombo Golf Club, has been given the opportunity to host such a prestigious tournament creating a history in Sri Lanka.”
Integral to the success of The Standard Chartered Open 2012 is the support given by The Ministry of Tourism in facilitating key functional aspects of the event and providing a range of marketing and promotional channels to platform the tournament’s exposure and profile. Golf is a major tourism driver throughout the world and The Ministry is looking to support golf in Sri Lanka as part of its tourism brief for the country.
“Golf tourism is a significant element in many countries’ visitor profile. As The Ministry of Tourism, we are delighted to see new initiatives such as The Standard Chartered Open 2012 and are keen to provide our support to the event not only to establish Sri Lanka on the world’s sporting map as a quality golfing destination but also to project the country’s many positive benefits and unique features to a wider audience,” said Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Managing Director Rumy Jauffer.
Sri Lankan sporting legend and international cricket captain, Mahela Jayawardene, is also a keen supporter of the new event and will enjoy his other great sporting love when he and other members of the Sri Lankan cricketing fraternity take part in the pre tournament Pro-Am Competition on 14 August. The tournament will also provide an opportunity for Jayawardene to host a Charity Auction in which a wide range of sporting items from signed memorabilia to a pair of tickets for The 2012 Ryder Cup will go ‘under the hammer’ in aid of his charity to develop youth cricket and golf in Sri Lanka.
The venue chosen to host the tournament, The Royal Colombo Golf Club, is the most prestigious Golf club in the country and a true golfing challenge – established in 1880 and the oldest golf club in Sri Lanka, the par 71 course measures 6,560 yards through a varied ‘landscape’ of fairways, trees and water bodies. “The Royal Colombo Golf Club is very proud to host The Standard Chartered Open 2012 and to support golf in Sri Lanka as it takes its rightful place in the professional tour ranks. I am sure all the players and officials will receive a wonderful welcome and really enjoy the RCGC experience. We look forward to a successful tournament and it becoming a well established event on Sri Lanka’s sporting calendar,” said Royal Colombo Golf Club Captain Priath Fernando.
PGTI Director Padamjit Sandhu said, “We are delighted to announce our first event in Sri Lanka under the PGTI calendar. The Standard Chartered Open in Sri Lanka will help generate tremendous interest in the country and help grow the sport. We are confident the event will strengthen golfing ties between India and Sri Lanka and we thank the sponsors, the promoters and the club in staging the event with PGTI.”
“We are delighted to bring the first major international professional golf tour event to Sri Lanka – the staging of such international events is an essential element in any country’s golfing development and we are very pleased to be able to play our part in raising the profile of the sport in Sri Lanka. The real credit and thanks should go to Standard Chartered, The Ministry of Tourism, The Royal Colombo Golf Club and Sri Lanka Golf Union for their key support to the event; also to the players – we are fortunate in having good relationships with many of the players and they have been really supportive of our initiative in committing to the tournament and helping to create such a strong ‘first year’ field,” said Chandana Weerasinghe (Pro Golf) and Neeraj Sareen (Sports Mantra India).
In addition to the Pro-Am and the Charity Auction, the promoters are planning other activities around the tournament as further contributions to the development of golf in Sri Lanka – golf clinics from tournament professionals for a range of junior and senior golfers, a wide range of opportunities for interaction between tournament professionals and officials and the local media as a means of expanding the local golfing knowledge base and the involvement of a number of local volunteers in the event’s organisation.