2026 Canterbury Match Play Championship

24 -26 October | Avondale Golf Club

 

 

Field Size & Divisions

 

Maximum Field Size

110, if required entries to be balloted on handicap proportionate to playing divisions  

 

Divisions

  • Men’s Championship
  • Women’s Championship
  • Men’s Masters Championship
  • Boy’s U19 Championship

 

-Plus a consolation Men’s Div 2

 

Division Entry Additional Notes

  • Male players are free to enter any Men’s division they are eligible for. I.e., a Men’s Master’s player or a U19 Men’s player can choose to enter the Men’s Open category should they wish. Men’s players aged between 19-39 can only enter the Men’s Open category.
  • Any male player from any of the men’s, men’s masters or Boys U19 divisions who does not qualify in the top 16 of the division following the qualifying round will be eligible to play in a consolation Men’s Division 2 category for the match play rounds. This will be capped at 16 players, based on their qualifying round gross score.  
  • Female players can only enter the one division, the Women’s Championship division.

 

Event Schedule

 

All categories will start with a qualifying round Saturday to determine the seedings and matches for each division’s Round of 16.

 

Players must report to the tournament office at least 20 minutes prior to their daily starting time. The Canterbury Golf Hard Card and tournament information will be provided here.

Saturday 24 October

Mid-morning – Match Play Qualifying Round, field of up to 110.

  • Tee Times: From 10.30am

 

In the event of a tie in any of the division qualifying rounds, final seeding positions will be decided based on a play-off of tied players. The play-off hole will be number 1, followed by (if required) hole number 18, then repeat as required.

 

Sunday 25 October

Morning – Division Rounds of 16, seeded from Saturday’s qualifying rounds

  • Tee Times: From 8.00am

 

Afternoon – Division Quarterfinals

  • Tee Times: From 1pm

 

Monday 26 October

Morning – Division Semifinals

  • Tee Times: From 8.00am

 

Afternoon – Division Finals

  • Tee Times: From 1pm

 

This format will ensure that:

  • All entrants are guaranteed 1 (qualifying) round
  • All top 16 qualifiers (including consolation Men’s Division 2) are guaranteed 2 rounds
  • Round of 16 winners are guaranteed 3 rounds
  • Quarter-Final winners are guaranteed 4 rounds
  • Semi-Final winners are guaranteed 5 rounds

 

Live Scoring

Live scoring will be active throughout the event including the initial qualifying round. This will be through our Golf Genius system, with players will be sent the instructions on how this works in advance.

 

Matchplay Draw

The Saturday mid-morning qualifying rounds draw be sent to players following the close of entries. Following the qualifying round the seeded Match Play draws will be displayed on the event website and emailed to players on Saturday 24th October evening.  

 

Order of Merit (OOM)

All eligible Canterbury based players will be awarded OOM points only for the division they played in and are eligible for.

 

Code of Conduct

The Canterbury Golf Code of Conduct will apply. Please note the use of drugs and alcohol is prohibited on the course. The code of conduct can be viewed on the Canterbury Golf Website.

 

Referees

There are Rules Officials circulating on the entire golf course, if you require a ruling and cannot locate one, please contact Blair Minton on 027 203 9767 and he can radio them for you.

 

Disputes

Disputes or protests must be lodged with Tournament Director immediately upon completion of the round or match. These will be handled by the Disputes Committee and the Committee decision shall be final.

 

Prize giving

The prize giving will be in the clubhouse at the completion of play on Monday afternoon.

 

Tournament Director – Blair Minton (027 203 9767)