Bengaluru, June 10 (IANS): Golfer Anura Rohana, who is representing the Navratna Ahmedabad team in the fourth Louis Philippe Cup commencing here on Thursday at the Karnataka Golf Association, finds India just the right place for Sri Lankan golfers.
Winning the only prestigious tournament in his country, the Sri Lankan Open, four times as a junior, Rohana joined the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) in 2003 after taking a loan from one of the key golfers in Sri Lanka.
"I grew up playing golf at the Royal Colombo Golf Course and when I was winning the Sri Lankan Open as an amateur.
"Sanjeev Nayak, chairman of IBM followed me on the course. He was impressed with my performance and helped me with money so that I can travel to India for professional events. I returned his money within few years after turning professional," said Rohana at a media interaction here on Wednesday.
Elaborating on the reason for frequently playing in India, the 2002 Asian Games silver medallist said: "India is the closest country to us and tournaments like Louis Philippe Cup allow us to make good money for the entire year.
"And if you win this kind of tournament, you are sorted for at least 3-4 tournaments when you don't have to worry about travel and accommodation for events in far off destinations."
Rohana, who gets country spots in 7-8 tournaments on the Asian Tour, said: "I wish our sports authorities could have funds to support golf in our country. We have the potential and we can really make it big if given more opportunities and facilities."
Like Rohana, other Sri Lankan players who play on the Indian domestic circuit regularly are Mithun Perera, N Thangaraja and K Prabagaran.
Agreeing with Rohana, Asian Tour regular Perera said: "I wouldn't have ever gone away from my family if we had a tour like PGTI in Sri Lanka. I am happy that we have a platform in India which gives us enough opportunities to gain knowledge about the game before we graduate to the next level like Asian Tour, European Tour and PGA Tour."
Son of a caddy Rohana, 42, who played in the Louis Philippe Cup for TAKE Chennai team in the first two years, is thrilled to be a part of his countryman Mithun Perera's team.
"Mine and Mithun's short game is really good and the worst round at this course you can have could be four-under in current conditions.
"Our teammate Shankar Das, who is the winner of the 2014 PGTI Order of Merit, is also a very impactful player. Since Mithun has already won this tournament twice, he knows what it takes to win such a prestigious event. We are proud to be in his team and ready to add low numbers to the tally."