Sri Lankans qualify for the Mercedes-Benz Asian finals

by Lal Gunasekera

Six Sri Lankans amateur golfers qualified to play in the Mercedes-Benz Asian finals in Australia later this year on their performances at the local event on the Ridgeways of the Royal Colombo Golf Club (RCGC) sponsored by Diesel and Motor Engineering Company Limited (DIMO) for the 15th consecutive year.

There were three players who ended up being tied at the top of Division I with 40 stableford points. Romesh Abhayaratne (Handicap 5) excelled in the book 9 to finish the round with a par 71 which included four Birdies. Ranil Pathirana was the first runner-up and Michael Magala the second.

Rohan J. Perera with 41 points won Division II (Handicap 13 to 20) with Joseph Kenny (40) and Majed Awa (39) as the first and second runner-up respectively.

Gihan Wickremasinghe obtained 36 points to win the Division III (Handicap 21 to 24) with Caeser Fernando (35) and Ken de Alwis (33) as the first and second runners-up.

Joseph Kenny was also adjudged the winner for the best stableford score in the six "hidden hole" with 19 points. P. H. B. Samarawickreme with 35 points had the best stableford score in the Senior category.