The 2024 edition of the Canterbury Match Play took place over the long weekend at Pegasus Golf Club. With the extremely heavy rain experienced overnight, unfortunately the decision was made to cancel Saturday’s qualifying round play. With an improved forecast, the tournament was to continue on directly to Sunday’s Round of 16 matches with the seedings and match up’s for those completely based on the player’s handicap index.
As Sunday dawned the weather thankfully was much improved and with the course draining well, play was able to commence as scheduled with the Men’s & Women’s divisions teeing off the number 1 tee, and the Masters and U19 Men starting off tee 6. As expected, the top seeds in the Men’s division proceeded in rather straightforward fashion with Sam McGill(1) winning 7&6, Cooper Moore (3) 8&6, and Yuki Miya (2) 6&4. In the women’s division, the top 3 seeded players had BYE’s which gave them the morning off. After some competitive matches some of the perhaps favourites were defeated with Lexi-Thomson Hall overcoming Auckland’s Cassi Luo in a play-off hole and Vanessa Lim beating Canterbury Rep Rachel Eder 3&2.
In the Masters, again the “favourites” came through relatively strongly with the top 4 seeds all progressing through to the quarters. Lin Wang (12) and Paul Fitzsimmons (10) perhaps with the upset wins beating their opponents 4&3 and 3&1 respectively. In the U19 Men, the results went as per the seeding with the top 8 seeds all progressing after some close matches in what was a very evenly contested division.
Onto the Sunday afternoon quarterfinals the tournament went then with a round that saw many close matches, with 4 matches going to play-off holes! In the Men’s division, Kan Katano got up on the 19th after a cracker match against Dan Laughton, with Cooper Moore and Sam McGill meanwhile also progressing. In perhaps the upset result, Scott Manyweathers overcame second seed Yuki Miya 3&2 to progress to the semi-finals. In the women’s division, all of the top 3 seeds entered the event, however only one of them would progress through to the semifinals. Lexi Thomson-Hall had another strong round overcoming third seed Queenie Lang 5&4 while Eva Yin managed to upset Alisia Ren (2) in a thrilling contest that was settled on the 21st hole. Canterbury teammates Zaria Bourne and Lannie Inoue were the other two players to advance.
In the Masters there were three very tight matches, firstly Michael Bailey overcame Lin Wang on the last to win 1up, while Paul Fitzsimmons beat the number 2 seed James Howard in a play-off hole. The closest match however was between Alisdair Reid and Kieran Sharvin, which needed 5 play-off holes to separate the two men, with Reid eventually winning out. Top seed Leon Yee also progressed winning 3&2. In the u19 Men’s division, all matches finished within the 18 holes with the biggest wins going to Jonathan Fry and Mitchell Redmayne who both won 4&3. James Mordaunt produced a battling performance to bounce back from being well behind to eventually defeat Uny Shao 2 up. Louis Edwards also progressed.
With a big Day 1 completed the players took a well earnt rest and returned for a big Day 2 teeing off from 7.30am. The men’s semi-finals saw Cooper Moore take on Scott Manyweathers, and in the other Sam McGill taking on Kan Katano. The latter match going all the way and then onto a play-off hole with McGill getting the win. The Moore v Manyweathers contest was again hard fought but Moore eventually got the nod winning 1up. In the women’s division, Lannie Inoue took on Zaria Bourne while Eva Yin faced off with Lexi Thomson-Hall. Inoue managed to get the win 2&1 in a tight contest, while Thomson-Hall’s tournament play-off success continued as she defeated Eva Yin on the 19th.
In the Masters, Leon Yee faced 4th seed Michael Bailey while Alisdair Reid took on Paul Fitzsimmons, after both players came away with play-off wins on Saturday afternoon. In the former match, Michael Bailey got the win by the close 2&1 margin, while the other match went the distance with Reid managing to hold his nerve and win 2up. Finally, in the u19 Men, Louis Edwards took on Jono Fry with Mitchell Redmayne facing James Mordaunt in the other. Both matches were extremely tight and went to the 18th, Louis Edwards managing to stay in front and win his match 1Up. In the Mordaunt vs Redmayne match, some consistent play from Mordaunt saw him hold a 2 hole victory with three to play, but a spirited comeback from Redmayne saw him fight back for a 1up win.
So, onto the finals we went. The Men’s event saw Canterbury and Clearwater teammates Sam McGill and Cooper Moore faceoff, in the ladies Lannie Inoue took on Lexi-Thomson Hall, the Masters it was Alisdair Reid taking on Michael Bailey and in the u19’s Mitchell Redmayne playing Louis Edwards.
The Men’s match was a game of high, high quality Golf. Tight for the most part, Moore managed to get his nose ahead leading by 3 with 5 to play. However, McGill showed his grit winning 15, 16 and 18 to force a play-off. On the 19th both players were strong off the tee but with a rare mistake by Moore on his shot into the green finding the hazard it opened the door for McGill who duly found the green going on to birdy and win his first Canterbury Match Play title. In the women’s, as she had done all weekend Lexi Thomson-Hall fought hard all round staying within touching distance of Lannie Inoue, however it was not to be and Lannie proved to good closing out the match on the 16th by the margin of 3&2 to claim her maiden Canterbury Match Play crown.
The Masters final was again a very close match going all the way to the last green. However, it was Michael Bailey who got the job done winning 2up sinking a long putt to sign off in style and write his name on the Masters trophy. Finally, in the u19 Men’s, Mitchell Redmayne continued on from his strong finish in the semi-finals and established a healthy lead over Louis Edwards early on. He was able to maintain this and went on to win 6&5 for his first Canterbury Match Play title.
Overall, a great weekend showcasing many of the best Match Play amateurs in the region. The full results for the tournament can be viewed – HERE.
The full Photo Album of the event can be viewed – HERE.
