After four rounds of gruelling competition Ricky Kang will have his name engraved on the Men’s Canterbury Stroke Play trophy making him the 53rd winner of this pinnacle event in Canterbury. The 68th edition of the Men’s event this year returned to the true 72-hole championship format and provided the ultimate test with the division played of the black tees which measured at over 6500m. A field of 64 players took on the challenge of back-to-back 36 hole days with the field being met with ideal conditions on day 1 with the sun shining and next to no wind by Clearwater standards.
Unsurprisingly it was the top seeds that scored the best with Kang being the only player to beat the course shooting a 1-under 71. Youngsters Will Carson and Archie Thompson recording the next best round 1 scores with rounds of 1-over 73 with Sam McGill and Shunsuke Nakamura just one shot further back after rounds of 74. Top seed Mitch Kale shot a 3-over opening round of 75. Onto the afternoon round and with the wind still down and some tee block adjustments, there was plenty more scoring opportunities for the players. The previously mentioned Kale found his groove in this round shooting one of the best rounds of the afternoon, a 2-under 70. The best Saturday afternoon scores however were a pair of 3-under 69’s recorded by Wanaka’s Rapahel Anderson and Paul Huppmann. Kang managed a solid even par round of 72 to maintain a two-shot lead overnight with McGill also shooting par to sit 3 shots back. Elijah Barney of Nelson also shot an impressive 2-under round of 70 which combined with his morning 75 sat him in 4th place.
Onto Day 2 action thet tournament went with lead group containing leaders Kang, Kale, McGill and Barney. Light winds again greeted the players but with the knowledge that the wind was to increase throughout the day making play progressively more challenging. Kang maintained his consistency off day 1 and eventually shot a 1-over 73. However, both Kale and McGill struggled a little, but eventually both closed with rounds of 74, leaving Kang with a 3-shot lead as they prepared for the final round. Nakamura played solid on Sunday morning shooting a couple under to sit in 4th place, with Barney struggling and falling down the leaderboard. Thompson backed up his solid round one score with a 2-under 70 to sit in 5th with Auckland’s Dylan Knight also scoring well with his 1 under round to sit in 6th equal alongside Rapahel Anderson.
Onto the final round the play went, and as expected, the 35km wind had arrived which combined with 54-holes of golf already under the players belt provided the toughest of final round tests. Kang, holding his 3-shot lead started his final round strongly with a birdy at 2, however this was followed by bogeys at 5,6, and 9. Mitch Kale meanwhile went through the front 1-under to complete a 3-shot swing and draw equal with Kang at the turn. McGill meanwhile shot his front-9 even par to remain 4 shots back. As the players made the turn and played the challenging 10th, Kang hit back in style to make birdy, Kale however was also up to the task making his birdy to stay on his heels, with both players in search of their maiden Canterbury Stroke Play title. Onto the 11th they went and after a typical par from Kang a potentially costly bogey from Kale saw Kang retake a one-stroke lead with 7 to play. Kang then rattled off a further 4 pars along the back 9 before Kale again made bogey at the 14th to fall 2 shots back with 4 to play. However, the current NZ Amateur champion rallied again to birdy the 16th par 3 to reduce that lead again to 1. With both players making par on 17, it was all down to the 18th with Ricky Kang holding the 1-shot lead. Kale found the fairway with his drive which put some pressure on Kang who had to date showed no signs of wavering. Kang then hit his drive which swayed right towards the trees, with it being unclear if the ball had finished in regulation or not Kang was forced to play a provisional off the tee which sailed safely into the fairway. However, in what came to great relief to Kang, his first tee shot had in fact rolled to safety and he was able to put his second to the edge of the green. Kale himself was on the green, albeit about 30feet from the pin leaving him a long birdy attempt. With Kang needing to make his up and down to win, he proceeded to chip onto the green leaving a 6foot putt for victory. Kale subsequently missed his long range attempt which left Kang that opportunity, and he duly delivered sinking the winning putt followed by a celebratory fist pump. After finishing as runner-up in 2025, this was somewhat of a redemption win and well deserved leading from start to finish. Kale eventually finished a shot back in 2nd with McGill claiming 3rd place from Anderson in 4th, with both players also claiming spots in the final NZ Open Qualifying tournament to come in Cromwell in a couple of weeks’ time.
In the Women’s 54-hole division, one of the largest and strongest fields in recent memory assembled in what was a great occasion for women’s golf. An extremely young field, as has become the norm in recent years, the average age of those competing in the women’s division (excluding women’s masters players) sat at just 15.2. Round 1 saw a dominant display from the top seed and Golf NZ National Academy product Teresa Wang who shot a sublime 5-under round of 67 of the gold tees, a round unmatched from any other player throughout the tournament. This resulted in a 4-shot lead over the next best round of the day, that went to Russley’s Vanessa Lim who shot an impressive 1-under round of 70. This was then followed by three other players who shot 1-over rounds of 73 in Melody Liu, Nikkie Liu, and 11-year old Yana Ye. Onto round 2 and Wang was at it again keeping up her powerful scoring on her way to another staggering round. This time a 4-under par round of 68 to extend to a tournament 9-under through two rounds of play. Although sat in a distance second, Angeline Loh came fighting back from her opening 2-over round to shoot a 2-under round of 70 to sit at even for the tournament. She was then followed by Canterbury’s Junie Chang and Vanessa Lim both sitting at +1. Russley’s Nutcha Sirawattanakul meanwhile recorded two equal rounds of 74 on day 1 to sit in 5th. Onto day 3 the action went, and with the knowledge that something very dramatic would be needed for the field to catch the impressive Teresa Wang. Second place Angeline Loh did however play well shooting 1-under on the front before an even back 9 gave her a 1-under round and tournament total. Wang, although not playing as strongly as day 1 was never under any pressure as she compiled a solid 1-over round of 73 to win by an eventual 7 shots to claim her first Canterbury Women’s Stroke Play title, becoming the 46th player to claim that feat. The next 4 positions on the leaderboard all went to Canterbury players with Junie Chang claiming 3rd, Vanessa Lim 4th followed by Aisha Lee and Zaria Bourne finishing in 5th and 6th respectively. A particularly strong performance from Lee, who at just 12-years old was playing in her first Stroke Play Championship finishing a respectful 8-over for the tournament.
In the Men’s Masters, a strong 16-man field assembled with all players on their day capable of featuring high up the leaderboard. The first round saw Otago’s Brian Helton set the early pace shooting a 2-over 74 to lead the pack. 2-shots further back sat the experienced Andrew Dufton, a two-time former champion. Tied with him at 4-over was Muriwai base Craig Batty, with Clearwater local Michael Bailey sitting 1-shot further back alongside Anuresh Chandra. Onto the Saturday afternoon round and it was Helton and Dufton who continued to play strongly. Helton played his first 9 even par with Dufton 1-under, but during the second 9 Dufton drew level with Helton shooting a couple over to finish with a 76 versus Dufton’s 74. The pair both sat in a tie for the lead at +6, with Anuresh Chandra matching his morning round of 76 to sit four shots further back in 3rd and with Craig Batty sitting in 4th at +11. Onto Sunday morning and it felt as though it would be a shoot-out between Dufton and Helton barring any dramatic change to Saturday’s from. And as it turned out, it was Dufton who came out of the blocks the best with a solid 1-under front 9 compared to Helton’s 6-over to give Dufton a convincing 7-shot lead at the turn. However with the wind picking up, the fortunes turned with Helton regaining his steadiness to record 9 consecutive pars on the back 9 versus Dufton’s 5-over through 7 holes. However, he manged to steady himself to birdy 17 to regain his 2-shot lead playing the last, and despite another bogey on 18 he held on to win by 1-shot.
Finally, in the Women’s Masters space, a 5-women field competed for this trophy within the wider women’s open field. Jo Kent had the best opening round with her 8-over round of 80, with Michele Reardon 4 shots further back and Emma Lewis another two shots in arrears. Round 2 saw Kent shoot an 84 and with Lewis shooting an improved 83 she sat 5-shots back. Reardon’s 88 saw her fall somewhat off the pace. Onto day 2, Kent held a solid lead but with the increasing wind she couldn’t maintain her form shooting a 97 to fall down the leaderboard. This combined with Lewis shooting a division best 79 saw her leapfrog the leader to claim her first Canterbury Women’s Masters title.
Overall, the event was huge success with all aspects of the tournament coming together for a great occasion worthy of the pinnacle Stroke Play event on the Canterbury Golf calendar. The full results from the event can be viewed – HERE. The full event photo album can be viewed – HERE.
Canterbury Golf wishes to acknowledge Clearwater Golf Club and the event’s sponsors, Wolfbrook, Lamb & Hayward and The Clubroom whose respective contributions helped elevate the event. We also extend our thanks to the volunteer referees, starters and general event support.
We now look forward to the 2027 edition to be staged at Russley.
