ANEL DE SILVA CREATES HISTORY AT THE ROYAL COLOMBO GOLF CLUB!

In 1883 the President of the Club, Hon. G. S. Williams instituted the President’s Cup. The format was Match-Play and there were 12 entries. The Prize was won by J. N. Campbell and was presented to him by the President and received an appropriate “christening “.?

The President’s Cup of 1897, the first at the Ridgeways Course, was won by G.F. Munro, a resident of Tain in Scotland. The Winners replica can be seen at the Tain Museum.?

The President’s Cup has been played continuously since its inception except during the Second World War between 1942 and 1947, when the Club House and sections of the course were occupied by the Military and when all golfing activities were restricted.

This February 2022 the President’s Cup Golf Tournament 2021 steeped in its history comprising of two rounds of golf in the Stroke Play format for Divisions A, B & C players played off a maximum handicap of 18 over two consecutive days with over 150 enthusiastic golfers of the RCGC vying for this coveted prize teed off on the 19th & 20th at the beautifully manicured and curated Royal Colombo Golf Club course, under hot and humid conditions. ? As in the previous years the President’s Cup did accommodate the Masters, Seniors, & Ladies divisions golfers, though this not being a board event for these categories, in the Stroke Play format played over one round where the winner was decided on the best nett score.?

After the first round of play, a packed leaderboard stood with the charismatic Anel De Silva who displayed some scintillating golf playing off a handicap of 16, masterfully navigating his way around the tough RCGC course to card a gross score of 80 and a nett score of 64 to be the No. 1 seed player.?

Anel was followed by Prof. Deepal Weerasekera (Nett 65), Zhao Liang (Nett67), Zheng Ming (Nett 67), Vinuda Weerasinghe (Nett 69), Suhayb Sangani (Nett 69), Yue Yeqing (Nett 69), Andy Anderson (Nett 70), Defending champion Dr. Rohitha Silva (Nett 70), Rohan Fernandez (Nett 70), RCGC’s current President Ranil Peiris (Nett 70), and Major General (Retd.) Jagath Gunawardena (Nett 70) all strongly placed and showing contention, looking forward to the second round of play to go on and win this prestigious board event.

Amidst strong winds and humid conditions, the second days’ play teed off at 6:00am on Sunday 20th February 2022.?

RCGC’s current Captain Jehaan Ismail playing of a handicap of 16 carded a gross score of 83 and nett score of 67 to be the No 1 seed for the day, easily to be the second day’s best nett score winner.?

Meanwhile, the leaderboard kept changing and saw the previous day’s leaders slowly falling apart and new names appearing rapidly on it.

However, Anel playing off his new handicap of 14 reigned!?

Showing us his deadly accuracy off the tee, and deft touch around and on the greens the quiet and soft-spoken always smiling Anel, went about his second round with clinical precision, and carded a gross 85 and with nett score of 71 after the second round of play went on to win the prestigious President’s Cup 2021 with an overall nett score of 135 over the two rounds of stroke play, and a substantial lead of 5 strokes over the runner up Zhao Liang who had an overall nett score of 140.

Anel De Silva thus creates history at the Royal Colombo Golf Club as the oldest golfer to win the prestigious President’s Cup since its inception.

By Afflli Raheem

President’s Cup 2021

Competition Results

Overall Winner : Anel De Silva 64+71 = 135 Nett ? ? ? ? ????

Overall Runner Up : Zhao Liang 67+73 = 140 Nett????

?Overall Gross Winner : Husni Uwise 76+80 = 156 Gross? ???

?

Master’s Division

Winner : V. T. Sundaralingam 71 Nett B/B 9?

?Runner Up : Sarath Liyanage 71 Nett?

Senior’s Division

Winner : M. Fazeel 68 Nett

?Runner Up : Nataraj Ramiah 72 Nett?

Ladies Division

Winner : Sayeon Park 74 Nett?

Runner Up : Anouk Chitty 76 Nett?

1st Day Best Nett Winner : Anel De Silva 64 Nett? ??

2nd Day Best Nett Winner : Jehaan Ismail 67 Nett

?