Hole In One makes first Peterite Sydney Golf Open extra special – By Lawrence Machado
Even the rains failed to dampen the enthusiasm and quality of play in the inaugural St. Peters College Sydney Golf Open held recently at the Muirfield Golf Club.
The Stableford scratch and handicap competition on Sunday, April 2, attracted 10 teams from several prominent Sri Lankan schools including St Benedict’s, St Joseph’s, Royal, Isipathana, Ananda, S. Thomas, D.S. Senanayake, Wesley, in addition to ladies and other guests.
There was even a hole in one at the 15th by former Josephian Mohan Alles, the second time the golfing ace has made this rare achievement.
While competition was fierce for the many trophies and awards on offer, it was the wonderful camaraderie which made it such a successful event, with many saying this will be the first of many memorable Golf Opens.
Dave White crowned himself the first winner of the St. Peters College Sydney Open with a scratch score of 21, with Kerry Davy taking the scratch score runner-up cup with 18.
Rozanne Davy became the first Ladies Champion following her net score of 29.
Terry Joachim (37) saw off the challenge of Amal Wahab (36) to win the Nett Champion Trophy. Amal, however, had the consolation of winning the Blue White and Gold Trophy being the best Peterite golfer with a nett score of 36, an achievement he can gleefully claim over his college mates for years to come.
The day ended with a sumptuous Asian dinner banquet and presentation at the same venue with plenty of laughs and golden memories being shared among the alumni of the various colleges. The players were joined by families and friends.
There was praise from many of the participants. “Many thanks for organising a successful event,” said Mohan Alles. “We die-hard golfers play even in the rain, so it was not really a hindrance, in fact it actually might have stopped my ball and sent it into the 15th green hole!”
Alles’ hole in one came two years after he sank his first during a competition at his club in Roseville.
“Thanks again for your effort yesterday, Myles the maestro and us Old Joes look forward to more fun and games in the future. It’s pleasing to see that the Joe-Pete camaraderie continues to flourish at the same high standards.
“Perhaps we need to have our children and grandchildren join in sometime and see for themselves the true spirit of mateship our respective teachers and elders instilled in us.”
St Peter’s College Sydney OBU president Roshara Alles said the support and enthusiasm not only from his hard working team but also from all the players and their families, made it an event to cherish.
“We wanted to organise something different this time and we are glad our first Golf Open had the support of so many people,” Roshara said. “This is a great start and we can only build on this at the next year’s event.”
The main organisers of the Golf Open, Bryce Jamie and Dilhan De Silva, were stoked by the overall success of the event, the support from all the players and the many schools.
“It was our first attempt and this golf day was a great success having 40 golfers and 65 guests for dinner,” Dilhan said. “Our intention is that this annual Peterite Golf Open becomes stronger and gives the chance for many more players to get their names on the trophy.”
Bryce commented: “The inaugural event was made all the more special with Mohan’s wonderful hole in one which most golfers dream to achieve at least once in our lives, and it is fantastic that he has already achieved it twice. That was some golf shot as that hole was 164 metres away in very wet conditions.
“We thank all the golfers, families and friends for the excellent encouragement, support and very positive feedback.”
“Congratulations to all the prize winners and we look forward to welcoming you all to next year’s Peterite Golf Open as well as seeing you in the Joes tournament later this year.”
Following are the winners and runners-up:
Dave White – Champion Trophy with a scratch score of 21.
Kerry Davy – Scratch score runner up Cup with a scratch score of 18.
Rozanne Davy – Ladies Champion Trophy with a nett score of 29.
Terry Joachim – Nett Champion Trophy with a nett score of 37.
Amal Wahab – Nett Runner up with a Nett score of 36.
Amal Wahab – Blue White and Gold trophy for best Peterite golfer with a nett score of 36.
Desmond Don Paul – Nearest to the Pin – 6th Hole.
Myles Anderiesz – Longest Drive – 8th Hole.
Peter Mears – Nearest to the Pin – 9th Hole.
Gima Jayasinghe – Nearest to the Pin – 11th Hole
Kerry Davy – Longest Drive – 12th Hole
Mohan Alles – Nearest to the Pin with a hole in one – 15th Hole.
Organisers: Bryce Jamie and Dilhan De Silva; Scoring: Franz de Zilva & Kevin Jamie.
Golf committee: Dilhan De silva, Bryce Jamie, Franz de Zilva, Roshara Alles, Shane Steinwall, Amal Wahab, Gerard Velayuthen, Winston Velayuthen and Senani Gunasekera.
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