Tournament Preview | Avondale Golf Club, Christchurch | Labour Weekend, Saturday 24 – Monday 26 October 2026
One of Canterbury golf’s oldest and most prestigious titles is on the line again this Labour Weekend, as 97 players across four divisions head to Avondale Golf Club for the 2026 The Clubroom Canterbury Match Play Championship. All four 2025 champions are back to defend their titles – Sam McGill (Men’s), Junie Chang (Women’s), James Howard (Masters) and Darren Kung (U19) – and McGill has the chance to join an exclusive club, as he bids to become just the third player in more than a century to win three titles in a row.
The field at a glance
| Division | Players | 2025 champion |
| Men’s Championship | 26 | Sam McGill (Clearwater) – back to defend |
| Women’s Championship | 14 | Junie Chang (Russley) – back to defend |
| Men’s Masters Championship | 28 | James Howard (Coringa) – back to defend |
| Boys’ U19 Championship | 29 | Darren Kung (Waimairi Beach) – back to defend |
| Total field | 97 |
The venue – Avondale Golf Club
Established in 1919, Avondale Golf Club has stood proud in the east of Christchurch for more than a century, surviving wars, recession and, more recently, the earthquakes. The course sits about 10 minutes’ drive from the central city towards New Brighton and plays to a par of 70 for men and 71 for women, measuring around 5,400 metres.
Don’t be fooled by the yardage. Avondale’s undulating fairways, many trees and well-placed bunkers make it a genuine test of accuracy – especially when the wind gets up – and in match play, a wayward drive at the wrong moment can swing a match. All men’s divisions will play from the white tees, with the Women’s Championship off the yellow tees. Keep an eye on holes 1 and 18: they are the designated play-off holes for any ties in qualifying, and could decide some tight matches over the weekend.
The format
Every division starts with an 18-hole stroke play qualifying round on Saturday, with the top 16 in each division seeded into a knockout match play draw. From there it is head-to-head, hole by hole, until four champions are crowned on Monday afternoon. Any ties for seeding positions will be settled by a play-off starting on the 1st hole, then the 18th, repeating as required.
| Day | Session | Tee times | Round |
| Saturday 24 October | Mid-morning | From 10:30am | Stroke play qualifying round (seeding) |
| Sunday 25 October | Morning | From 8:00am | Round of 16 |
| Sunday 25 October | Afternoon | From 1:00pm | Quarterfinals |
| Monday 26 October | Morning | From 8:00am | Semifinals |
| Monday 26 October | Afternoon | From 1:00pm | Finals, followed by prizegiving in the clubhouse |
There is a second chance for the men, too. Any male player from the Men’s, Masters or U19 divisions who misses the top 16 in his division after qualifying is eligible for the consolation Men’s Division 2 match play event, capped at 16 players based on qualifying round gross scores. That means every top-16 qualifier – Div 2 included – is guaranteed at least two rounds, and each win adds another.
Alongside Canterbury Match Play honours, players are also competing for The Clubroom vouchers in prizes as well as each division champion winning a trip to the NZ PGA Championship to be held at Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club which includes, flights, accommodation, rental car and a spot in the pre-event Pro/Am thanks to tournament sponsors Quinovic Property Management.
There is more than silverware at stake, too. The championship is a World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) event and the first Canterbury Golf Order of Merit (OOM) event of the 2026/27 season, so valuable WAGR and OOM points are also on offer across the weekend.
A history of the championship
Men’s Championship – est. 1906
First contested in 1906 as the Canterbury Amateur Championship, with S H Gollan the first champion, the title has since been played 111 times and has 76 different names on the trophy. C J Ward holds the record with six titles between 1932 and 1954, while B B Wood (1910–12) and Jordan Bakermans (2012–14) are the only players to win three in a row. The modern era has been just as competitive, with 19 different champions in 25 editions since 2001 – most recently Sam McGill, who successfully defended his title in 2025.
Women’s Championship – est. 2011
First played in 2011, the Canterbury Women’s Match Play has produced 10 different champions in 15 editions, starting with Jess Guenzerodt (now Reid). Juliana Hung holds the record with three titles (2014, 2016 and 2017), and only Hung and Yoyo Fu (2019–20) have successfully defended the title. The event has a proud record of unearthing Canterbury’s brightest young talent, and it has been wide open lately, with a different champion in each of the last five years – most recently Junie Chang in 2025.
To read more about the history of the championship, visit the following links:
Division focus
Men’s Championship
All eyes will be on Sam McGill. The Clearwater player has won the last two titles and can become just the third player in the championship’s 120-year history to win three in a row, joining B B Wood and Jordan Bakermans. He will have to earn it: 2021 champion Zach May has withdrawn due to a late call up to play in the prestigious Asia Pacific Amateur, but the field is still loaded with plus-handicappers.
Home player Nash de Klerk is the highest-rated player in the field and will know Avondale better than anyone, while Ricky Kang and Sebastian May sit right behind McGill on the rankings. Avondale’s Etienne Collier, Shane Whooley and Thomas Clayson are all capable of a deep run, and several of the region’s leading juniors have chosen to test themselves in the open division rather than the U19 event. McGill, de Klerk, Kang and Sebastian May play together in Saturday’s final men’s group (11:18am, 1st tee) – there is a good chance the eventual champion is in that group.
| Player to watch | Club | Handicap index | Why to watch |
| Sam McGill | Clearwater Golf Club | +3.8 | Two-time defending champion (2024, 2025) chasing a historic three-peat |
| Nash de Klerk | Avondale Golf Club | +5.1 | Highest-rated player in the field, with home-course knowledge |
| Ricky Kang | Harewood Golf Club | +3.4 | Joint third-highest rated in the field |
| Sebastian May | Clearwater Golf Club | +3.4 | Joint third-highest rated in the field |
| Etienne Collier | Avondale Golf Club | +3.3 | Avondale member with local knowledge |
| Shane Whooley | Waimairi Beach Golf Club | +2.9 | Experienced plus-handicapper who could go deep |
Women’s Championship
Junie Chang returns as defending champion after a breakthrough 2025 in which she also won Canterbury Junior Women’s Golfer of the Year. Victory would make her only the third player to defend the title, after Juliana Hung and Yoyo Fu.
Her biggest threat is likely to be Maddie May, who is the highest-rated player in the 14-strong field and the narrow favourite on paper. Russley’s Alice Fry, Ziyi (Annie) Wang and Vanessa Lim are also plus-handicappers and more than capable of an upset in the knockout rounds. With five different winners in the last five years, history says nothing is guaranteed. Chang, May, Fry and Wang play together at 10:54am from the 13th tee on Saturday.
| Player to watch | Club | Handicap index | Why to watch |
| Maddie May | Clearwater Golf Club | +3.2 | Highest-rated player in the women’s field |
| Junie Chang | Russley Golf Club | +3.0 | Defending champion and 2025 Canterbury Junior Women’s Golfer of the Year |
| Alice Fry | Russley Golf Club | +1.4 | Third-highest rated in the field |
| Ziyi (Annie) Wang | Royal Auckland and Grange Golf Club | +1.1 | Plus-handicapper from Royal Auckland and Grange |
| Vanessa Lim | Russley Golf Club | +0.2 | Plus-handicapper rounding out the top five |
Men’s Masters Championship
James Howard (Coringa) returns as defending champion, but he will start a few spots down the seedings on paper. Leith Campion arrives from Gore as the clear top seed, with a handicap index two shots better than anyone else in the division, while Scott Manyweathers – a former Canterbury Match Play champion (2018) – knows exactly what it takes to win this event.
David Grater, Gordon Carlyle and Avondale’s Riki Borell complete a strong group of plus-handicappers, while Kieran Sharvin and Leon Yee add depth. Howard plays in the 11:18am group from the 6th tee, just ahead of the top four seeds on paper – Campion, Manyweathers, Grater and Carlyle – who go out together at 11:26am.
| Player to watch | Club | Handicap index | Why to watch |
| Leith Campion | Gore Golf Club | +3.8 | Highest-rated player in the Masters field |
| Scott Manyweathers | Harewood Golf Club | +1.8 | 2018 Canterbury Match Play champion |
| David Grater | Clearwater Golf Club | +0.6 | Plus-handicapper and genuine contender |
| Gordon Carlyle | Weedons Country Club | +0.3 | Plus-handicapper and genuine contender |
| James Howard | Coringa Golf Club Inc. | 0.4 | Defending champion (2025) |
Boys’ U19 Championship
Darren Kung (Waimairi Beach) is back to defend his title in what looks like the most open division of the weekend – and the largest. Kohl Thompson-Small is the only plus-handicapper in the field and the top seed on paper, but the chasing pack is incredibly tight: Kung, James Mordaunt, Josh Verster, Seiji Dimitrov and Rafferty O’Malley are separated by less than half a shot.
Shunsuke Nakamura is another to watch, and with so little between the leading players, Saturday’s qualifying round and the seedings it produces could be decisive. Thompson-Small, Kung, Mordaunt and Verster play together at 11:26am from the 10th tee.
| Player to watch | Club | Handicap index | Why to watch |
| Kohl Thompson-Small | Hororata Golf Club | +2.0 | Only plus-handicapper in the U19 field |
| Darren Kung | Waimairi Beach Golf Club | 0.3 | Defending champion (2025), joint second-highest rated |
| James Mordaunt | Clearwater Golf Club | 0.3 | Joint second-highest rated |
| Josh Verster | Russley Golf Club | 0.6 | Part of a tight chasing pack |
| Seiji Dimitrov | Russley Golf Club | 0.7 | Part of a tight chasing pack |
| Rafferty O’Malley | Waimairi Beach Golf Club | 0.7 | Part of a tight chasing pack |
How to follow the action
Live scoring will run throughout the weekend – including Saturday’s qualifying round – through Canterbury Golf’s Golf Genius system. Follow every shot of qualifying and every match on the event website, where the seeded match play draws for all divisions will also be published on Saturday evening.
Canterbury Golf will also be sharing updates across its Facebook and Instagram channels throughout Labour Weekend. Prizegiving will be held in the Avondale clubhouse at the completion of play on Monday afternoon.
