The 2026 Canterbury Age Group Championship was held at Russley Golf Club on Monday and Tuesday, with a new record of 82 participants taking part across the multiple divisions and 10 different club teams in total taking part. With 3 different age group divisions with u13’s, u16’s, and u19’s across both Boys and Girls’ there was a great representation across the junior game with the players playing over 36-holes across the two days.
In the u19 Boys division, 16 players entered with many possible overall champion candidates. It was Thomas Clayson who set the early pace with his -2 round of 70, he was followed by a shot further back by Etienne Collier with his -1 round of 70, with the chase pack a couple of shots further back. On the Sunday, Alfie Bell made a strong charge shooting a -2 round to finish in 3rd at +1 overall, but it was Clayson who backed up his day one performance with an improved -3 under round to finish at -5 total of 139 to win by 4 shots from Etienne Collier.
In the u19 Girls, this was a competition that went down to the final green. Day 1 saw Subin Bae shoot an impressive -2 round of 70 to lead the pack, she was followed by Sophia Park some 6 shots back to hold a demanding lead. Day 2 brought a lot of drama with Junie Chang fighting back in style, having made 3 birdies on the back 9 to sit at -3 under for her round, and with Bae sitting at +4 in her second round, the two were tied playing the last. Both players found the green in 2, but in dramatic style Chang rolled in a monster eagle putt to claim the title with a final -5 round of 67. Bae herself birdied the last to claim the runner-up spot.
The u16 Boys was biggest division with 31 players in all taking part. The best scores on Day 1 went to Siwoo Kim who shot 69, Seiji Dimitrov who shot 71, with Austin Wills, Maadi KiriKiri, and defending u16 champ Kobe Hart all shooting 73. Day 2 saw plenty of movement in the table with Donghee Kang having a much improved day shooting a 71. His Harewood teammate Siwoo Kim fell off the pace however, which was followed by Maddi KiriKiri charging home with a birdie on the last to shoot 72 and force a playoff with Kang after both finished at a total of 145. The pair then played the 18th in front of a large crowd of spectators, and it was KiriKiri who held his nerve to sink a 10-foot putt for birdy to claim the title.
The u16 girls was in the end a rather one-sided contest with defending champ Vanessa Lim shooting a day 1 round of 75 to lead by four shots over teammate Alice Fry. She then backed up that performance on day 2 shooting another 75 to finish at a 150 total, winning by 6 shots over Seoyeon Kim, with Fry back in 3rd. In the u13 Boys, Junwoo Kim claimed top spot shooting rounds of 74 and 75 to win by one shot over Alex Kimber, with Tristan Bi finishing in 3rd. Finally, in the u13 girls Aisha Lee proved too strong leading throughout. Lee shot an impressive even round of 72 on day 1 and matched that performance again on day 2 with another even round score to finish at 144. 5 shots further back was Olivia Guan at 149 total, followed by Yana Ye in 3rd at 150.
The Teams event was taken out by the Christchurch team, which consisted of Thomas Clayson, Ethan Lam, Subin Bae, and Sam Hammond who finished at a team total of +2 to win by 2 shots over Waimairi Beach.
The full results can be viewed – HERE. Our thanks go to the Russley Golf Club for hosting and The Clubroom for sponsoring the event.
