K Nandasena Perera (29 August 1954 – 14 February 2019) was a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

Early life

Perera grew up in

Colombo, Sri Lanka Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

. Perera left school early to work for his family. He later got into golf while working as a caddy at the

Royal Colombo Golf Club The Royal Colombo Golf Club is the oldest golf club in Sri Lanka. Established in 1879, it is located in the capital city of Colombo at ''The Ridgeway Links'' also known as the ''Anderson Golf Course''. It is home to the Sri Lanka Golf Union, the ...

. At the age of 15, Perera broke his left arm at the elbow. Te elbow was set incorrectly, prohibiting the full extension of his left hand. Despite this he went on to be a professional golfer.

Amateur career

Perera won the Sri Lanka Amateur Championship several times. He also won the national amateur championship of Pakistan, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. Perea had some other highlights during this era. He shot a 63 (−8) at the Royal Colombo Golf Course Open in 1983, breaking the course record. He would go on to win the event. Very shortly afterwards he played in the Singapore Open. In the second round he made a hole-in-one winning a free Mercedes-Benz E320.

Professional career

Perera turned professional around the year 1990. He competed at the 1990

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

Beijing, China Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. Perera was in the finals against Japan's

Shigeki Maruyama Shigeki Maruyama (丸山茂樹, ''Maruyama Shigeki''; born 12 September 1969) is a Japanese professional golfer. Early life Maruyama was born in Ichikawa, Japan, near Tokyo. He attended Nihon University. Professional career In 1992, he turne ...

. The two were tied after regulation and competed in a sudden-death playoff to determine who got the gold medal. Maruyama hit his drive into the rough and could not find his ball after three minutes of searching. If two more minutes elapsed then he would have to take a penalty stroke. However, Perera found the ball and notified his competitor. Maruyama went on to defeat Perera on that hole. Perera, however, won a Silver Medal and was remembered for his act of sportsmanship. In 1991, Perera played excellently at several international tournaments. He won the 1991 Sabah Masters, an event played in Indonesia. A couple months later, in October 1991, he finished runner-up at the Malaysian Masters to Australian Stewart Ginn. His best play that year, however, may have been at that November's

Air New Zealand Shell Open The Air New Zealand Shell Open was a golf tournament held in New Zealand between 1975 and 1994. The event was the New Zealand Airlines Classic in 1975 and 1976 and the New Zealand Airlines Open in 1977. The Grange hosted the first and final editio ...

. Ten behind entering Sunday, Perera shot a final round 66 (−4) in "wet, windy conditions" to "surge through the pack" and finish solo second. The following year, Perera also recorded a number of top ten finishes on the international circuit. The best finish was a joint runner-up placing at the

Benson & Hedges Malaysian Open The Malaysian Open is a men's professional golf tournament that is currently played on the Asian Tour, and was formerly played on the European Tour. Notable past winners include world number one golfers Vijay Singh and Lee Westwood (both play ...

Vijay Singh Vijay Singh ( ; born 22 February 1963) is a Fijians, Fijian professional golfer. In 1982, Singh turned professional and played on the local Asia Golf Circuit. However, his early career met with controversy, as he was accused of numerous rules ...

. Perera soon qualified for the

Japan Golf Tour The Japan Golf Tour () is a prominent professional golf tour. It was founded in 1973 and as of 2006, it offered the third-highest annual prize fund out of the regular (that is not for seniors) men's professional tours after the PGA Tour and the ...

and

Asian Tour The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf professional golf tours, tour in Asia except for Japan (which has its own Japan Golf Tour). It is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on ...

. However, the colder conditions in Japan affected him and he developed severe arthritis. This led to end of his career as a touring professional. The Indian golfer Rishi Narain noted that Perera was probably the best South Asian golfer of his era.

Personal life

Perera was married to Ranjani. He had three children: a daughter, Nithini, who is a doctor in India; a son,

Mithun Mithun is another name for the gayal, a species of cattle. Mithun, Midhun or Mithen or Mrithun can also refer to: Organisations *Mithun, Inc, an American integrated design firm *Mithun Agency, an American advertising agency People Given name * ...

, who is a professional golfer; and another daughter, Michiko, an archaeology student at

University of Colombo The University of Colombo (informally Colombo University or UoC) is a Public University, public research university located primarily in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is the oldest institution of modern higher education in Sri Lanka. Specialised in t ...

. Mithum has won seven events on the

Professional Golf Tour of India The Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) is a professional golf tour for men based in India. The tour was formed in 2006, as the successor to the Indian PGA Golf Tour, which ran from 1997 to 2006. The PGTI serves as a feeder tour for higher l ...

and has recorded three runner-up finishes on the

. Late in the life, Perera was granted a plot of land adjacent to Royal Colombo Golf Course. He built a house there with the help of several members of the club. Perera died in early 2019. Late in the year, his son Mithun won an event on the

and dedicated the win to his father.

Amateur wins

*1983 Royal Colombo Golf Course Open *1988 Sri Lanka National Amateur Golf Championship, Amateur Golf Championship of India Singapore Open Amateur Championship *1989 Sri Lanka National Amateur Golf Championship, All India Amateur Golf Championship *1990 Sri Lanka National Amateur Golf Championship, All India Amateur Golf Championship, Singapore Open Amateur Championship *Pakistan Amateur Golf Championship *Thailand Amateur Golf Championship *Malaysia Amateur Golf Championship

Professional wins

*1991 Sabah Masters *Sri Lankan National Open (7 times)

Team appearances

(representing Sri Lanka):

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

(individual silver medal) *

World Cup of Golf The World Cup of Golf is a men's golf tournament contested by teams of two representing their country. Only one team is allowed from each country. The players are selected on the basis of the Official World Golf Ranking, although not all of the fir ...

(representing Sri Lanka):

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perera, Nandasena Sri Lankan male golfers Asian Games silver medalists in golf Asian Games silver medalists for Sri Lanka Golfers at the 1990 Asian Games Medalists at the 1990 Asian Games Sportspeople from Colombo 1954 births 2019 deaths