The 2021 Hazlett Insurance Canterbury Matchplay Championships is being held at Templeton Golf Club this weekend. The field has slightly been affected by COVID restrictions with some out-of-town players not being able to travel, in particular Auckland-based Joshua Bai who placed third in the recent Canterbury Strokeplay.
The Men's Championship bracket of 16 players will tee-off Saturday morning with Harewood's Matt McLean the top seed. He will face Waitikiri's Kris O'Neill. Second seed Josh Smith (Ashburton) will face Templeton's Mac McCall. and third seed Royal Auckland's Cameron Harlock who was out of Auckland when Level 3 hit, will face Jake Roberts. Other matches of interest see Templeton's Sam McGill playing Canterbury Rep Reid Hilton. McGill played very well in the strokeplay which Hilton had to miss due to work commitments. Hayato Miya versus Mike Toeke will be keenly contested, and there will be interest in Zach May playing local favourite Dan Laughton.
The Women's Championship will tee off Saturday afternoon with seven players. Top seed Maddie May will get a bye through to Sunday morning's semi-finals where she will face either Deanna Matthews or Alisa Ren. Canterbury Rep Olive Tapu is playing having missed the Strokeplay and will face Tasman rep Lizzie Neale in the first round.
The Men's Masters Championship will play 18 holes qualifying on Saturday morning. With 24 entries, players will qualify into three divisions. The eight spots for qualification into the championship division will be hotly contested. Canterbury reps Andrew Dufton, Aaron Forsyth, Jason Sincock, and Jonathan Stieller will be favoured to qualify, but they were face stern opposition from the likes of Richard Sinclair, John Rademakers, Gary Gillard, James Robb, Steve Bell, Anton Fouchee, and Paul Burke who have all performed well in the past.
There is also 18 hole qualifying in the morning for Women's Masters, Div 2 Mens, Boys U19, and Men's Seniors. Kim Moggach, Rachel Eder, Catherine Knight, and Naomi Wallace will be favoured in the Women's Masters. Cooper Moore, Mika MacDonald, and Phong Ngyuen will be the ones to watch in the Boys U19. And in the 55+ Seniors Championship look out for twice matchplay champion Marty Holman, NZ Seniors rep Robbie Bell, Tala Natapu and Paul Bailey.
Play begins 8am both days. The draw and playing brackets will be posted shortly. Updates will be provided through the weekend on our Facebook page and results posted on our website.
