The 2018 Golf Warehouse Canterbury Matchplay is being held at Waimairi Beach Golf Club over Labour Weekend starting with qualifying on Saturday, then matchplay on Sunday and Monday.
Defending Champion Hiroki Miya (Russley) will be looking for a three-peat when he defends his title in the Men's Open section. However the 2016 and 2017 champion will face stern competition from a number of other players in good form including the Harewood contingent of Matt McLean, Josh Smith and Rhian Hamilton. Ben Baker, Kazuma Kobori, and Josh Roche were all part of the recent Canterbury Boys team that placed third at the Boys Interprovincial and are in good form. All will be looking to gain a top qualifying spot to plot an easier path through to the Finals on Monday. The open mens section will qualify into two divisions of 16 players.
The Women's section of 10 players is led by Canterbury Reps Catherine Bell and Olive Tapu, with Defending Champ Juliana Hung not available due to overseas commitments. Amy Weng and Maddie May will be out to upset the favourites.
The Men's Masters Championship sees a strong field of sixteen players with qualifying to decide the seeding for the matchplay draw of 16 players. The field will be headed by defending champion Blair Dibley also going for a three-peat, he will be hotly challenged by the likes of Aaron Forsyth, Jonathan Stieller and Brett Turner.
The Women's Masters field has eight entries with defending champ Di Kay leading an even field that includes Mel Brew, Robyn Gillespie and Cheryl Kemp.
There is a new section this year for U19 Men designed to accommodate our up-and-coming young players. The field has attracted 11 players mostly in their early teens. The lowest handicappers in the field are Ben Burgess and Kansuke Shin.
Play starts with qualifying on Saturday at 7.45am, and matchplay starting from 8.00am on Sunday. Semi-finals and finals are on Monday.
Click here to view the draw.
Results will also be posted on the Canterbury Golf website and updates on our Facebook page throughout the weekend.
