120 golf pros to tee off at Standard Chartered Open in SL

One hundred and twenty golf pros are set to tee off in Sri Lanka next month at the major professional tour – The Standard Chartered Open 2012. The four day tournament which will debut in Sri Lanka and be held from 15 to 18 August at The Royal Colombo Golf Club, is an event sanctioned by The Professional Golf Tour of India (the PGTI) as part of its 2012 schedule. The Standard Chartered Open 2012 carries an attractive purse; the prize money on offer is USD 50,000 (Rs. 6,500,000). Local amateur golfers, including six members of the Sri Lankan National Golf Team will tee off in the tournament alongside the professionals.

Standard Chartered Bank CEO Anirvan Ghosh Dastidar a keen and gifted golfer himself, speaking enthusiastically about the tournament said: “This event which will bring the first major international professional golf tour to Sri Lanka will be a great opportunity for local golfers to see leading players such as Shiv Kapur, Anirban Lahiri, Himmat Rai, Chiragh Kumar and Digvijay Singh, and our very own local golfing stars and prominent PGTI members – Mithun Perera and Anura Rohana, in action. We are extremely fortunate to be able to showcase such a strong ‘first year’ field, and we hope that the event resonates with all international professional golfers, so that the country can look forward to hosting other similar events in the future.”
Title sponsor Standard Chartered Bank, long associated with the local art and culture milieu is delighted at the opportunity to contribute to developing and engendering sport. The bank will work closely with the Ministry of Tourism in ensuring that the Standard Chartered Open 2012 will be an event that places Sri Lanka’s golfing facilities firmly on the world map as an attractive and coveted venue for similar tournaments in the future. Golf is a major tourism driver throughout the world and the exposure, events such as these would bring to the island’s beautiful and scenic courses and golfing facilities, would provide a fresh impetus to tourism for the country. The venue chosen to host the tournament, The Royal Colombo Golf Club, the oldest and most prestigious golf club in the country and a true golfing challenge, boasts a par 71 course, encompasses a beautifully landscaped fairway which exudes a sense of history.
Standard Chartered Bank looks forward to working with Sri Lanka’s sporting legend and international cricket captain, Mahela Jayawardene, an avid golfer himself, who is the spokesperson for the event. Jayawardene and other members of the Sri Lankan cricketing fraternity will underscore their support for the Standard Chartered Open 2012 by participating in the pre tournament Pro-Am Competition on 14 August. He will also showcase his charity to develop youth cricket and golf in Sri Lanka by hosting a Charity Auction, putting items such as signed memorabilia and a pair of tickets for The 2012 Ryder Cup ‘under the hammer’.