Oman Air Golf Classic: Making Sri Lanka a golfing destination

Oman Air Country Manager for Sri Lanka and Maldives Gihan Karunaratne and Victoria Golf and Country Resort General Manager Neroy Marso at the press briefing held to speak about the preparations for the Sixth Oman Air Golf Classic  Pic by Pradeep Dilrukshana

By Supun Dias
The Sixth Oman Air Golf Classic is set to tee off at the Victoria Golf and Country Resort in Digana on September 3 attracting a large number of female and male amateur golfers both here and abroad that would set the platform to make Sri Lanka a golfing destination.

Oman Air, the national carrier of the Sultanate of Oman, made the announcement at a media briefing at Cinnamon Lakeside recently. 
Last year saw Tony Udagedara walk away with the coveted title with Vidush Rasjendran coming up as the runner up.

This year the golfers are set to compete for the titles of overall winner, runner-up, gross winner, nearest to the pin and longest drive. There will be a voucher worth Rs.100,000 from Oman Air for the overall winner. Most of the foreign participants would be representing Oman, Qatar and UAE. Oman Air Country Manager for Sri Lanka and Maldives Gihan Karunaratne said that the tournament enables Sri Lanka to promote itself as a golfing destination as participants from the Middle East will be able to develop strong business partnerships with their Sri Lankan counterparts. “I think these partnerships will be a great opportunity for Sri Lanka to bring in more investments to the country,” he added. 

“We are expecting between 70-80 participants. This will be an 18 hold stable ford game. The Victoria Golf and Country Resort in Digana is situated in an area of 520 acres, out of which 120 acres consists of the golf course which is regarded as the best golf course in the sub-continent. A recent survey by golf digest found out that our golf course is among the top 100 gold courses in the world,” said Victoria Golf and Country Resort General Manager Neroy Marso.