Remuera’s Queenie Lang has won the 2026 New Zealand Women’s Amateur Championship at Royal Wellington, while Japan’s Kanichiro Katano has taken the men’s title after leading stroke-play qualifying.
The championships finished on Sunday, November 8, after five days at Royal Wellington.
Both fields played 54 holes of stroke play, with the top 16 men and women advancing to 18-hole knockout match play. The semi-finals were played on Sunday morning and the finals in the afternoon.
Lang’s Route To The Title
Lang opened with a two-over 74, added a 73 and closed qualifying with another 74 to finish tied fourth on five-over 221.
That left her three shots behind Australia’s Fuyu Yang, who topped the women’s qualifying at two over.
QTM Stories’ match-play report records Lang beating Yeowon Yoon 5&4 in the round of 16 and Yuetong (Victoria) Xin 3&2 in the quarter-finals.
Her semi-final opponent was Royal Wellington’s Minnie St Helens, who had knocked out defending champion Chloe So on the 20th hole and Yang 2&1. The other women’s semi-final was between Juwon Kim and Kelly Wu.
Katano Leads From The Front
Katano began with a one-under 71, then moved to the top of the leaderboard with a second-round 68. A closing 71 gave him six-under 210, four shots clear.
Nathan Mayes, Jack Van Prehn and Zachary May shared second on two-under 214.
As top seed, Katano needed 19 holes to beat Barker in the round of 16, then beat Ishaan Shah 6&5 in the quarter-finals.
He met Australia’s Josiah Edwards in the semi-finals. Archie Thompson and Jack Van Prehn contested the other men’s semi-final.
Championship Background
The New Zealand Amateur Championship began in 1893 and is the country’s oldest amateur golf event.
This year’s championships were the sixth held at Royal Wellington and the first there since 2016.
