Junior Golf from April 6 to 9
View(s):The second annual Sri Lanka Junior Golf Championship will be held at the Royal Colombo Golf Club in Colombo from April 6 to 9. The 
championship, a match play format competition, is played for the Rukmini Kodagoda Challenge Trophy, which is held by the prolific young golfer Prashan Peiris. Peiris, a student of St. Thomas’ Prep School Colombo, won the inaugural tournament held last year with an overwhelming overall performance.
This year the Sri Lanka Golf Union (SLGU) has added a new dimension by announcing a national ranking system for junior golf starting with those playing in the qualifying round being eligible to gain points for national ranking. Hence this event for the Rukmani Kodagoda Trophy is sponsored by Perera and Sons becomes more prestigious this year as they hope to do so in years to come.
The SLGU has now focussed much more on developing junior golfers in Sri Lanka which has resulted in introducing a new Copper Division whilst upgrading the Bronze Division. The tournament will be played over four days and will comprise of four age groups of 15 to 17 years for Overall and Gold Division, 12 to 14 years for Silver Division, 10 to 11 years for Bronze Division and 9 years and under for Copper Division.
The manner of play would be based on a qualifying stroke play round whereby the best eight qualify to play match play knockout. There would be many prizes on offer such as best gross score on qualifying round and plate winner for non-
qualifier’s on day two best gross score. The organisers are aiming to see new talent blossom among the juniors who show aptitude for match play format.
The junior match play championship is a fitting tribute to Rukmini Kodagoda, who won the Sri Lanka Amateur Championship in 1979 and several other club tournaments. She also held the prestigious position of chairman of the Sri Lanka Ladies Golf Union in 1990 and 1991 and captain of the Ladies’ Section of the Royal Colombo Golf Club.
Last year’s divisional winners were Prashan Peiris (Gold Division), Hiruna Sigera (Silver Division) and Manisha Hirushan (Bronze Division). This year a stiff competition is expected from top contenders such as Armand Flamer Caldera, D. Dhanranjan, S. Flamin, Tien Kapilasena, Taniya Balasuriya and Sathsara Dilshan who will compete in their respective age group categories.
The tournament is sponsored by Perera and Sons Bakers, the family company of the late Rukmini Kodagoda, who established herself as one of Sri Lanka’s talented sportswomen having won national titles and represented Sri Lanka in both tennis and golf. The SLGU has been able to introduce the match play format to the juniors with able support of the sponsors.