GC Nationals

The CNZ National Golf Croquet Tournament is New Zealand’s premier GC event featuring both Singles and Doubles Championship events.

It was first contested in Hawke’s Bay during the 1998/99 season, as Golf Croquet became a popular form of the sport and was gaining interest worldwide. Initially, the format had been seen as an introductory game to the sport, but following the WCF’s launch of the GC World Championships in 1996, the NZCC felt it was time to host it’s own national tournament. The inaugural tournament included a 5+ handicaps category, which was changed to the current 3+ Handicap Singles in 2018/19. Don Reyland won the first two editions of the GC Nationals, further cementing his place in New Zealand croquet folklore.

The Open Singles and Doubles events have been held 25 times, with just 11 different singles winners over its history. The tournament has been dominated by Duncan Dixon, with a record 9 wins including a run of 7 wins in a row from 2010-2016. The NZ Open’s most decorated player, Bob Jackson, is the only other player to have won the GC Nationals more than twice, taking three titles to add to his incredibly impressive trophy cabinet. The other multiple winners are: Don Reyland, Peter Batchelor, Chris Clarke, Edmund Fordyce and Logan McCorkindale. Fordyce made history in 2017, becoming the youngest winner of the GC Nationals aged 16.

The Doubles event has had a wider winner’s circle, with 20 different pairings over its 25 year history. However, among those pairings, some individuals have taken the title more than twice, including Peter Batchelor, Bob Jackson, Hamish McIntosh, Josh Winter and Levi Franks, all with three wins each. Chris Clarke has been the most successful in this event’s history, with four titles played with three different partners.

Only 6 players have done the Doubles and Singles double, with record winner Duncan Dixon cementing his place as the tournament’s most illustrious winner with two doubles in 2013 and 2016. Bob Jackson and Peter Batchelor also did the double more than once, both achieving the feat in the early 2000s. The other players to win both in the same year are Don Reyland, Josh Winter and Levi Franks.

The Singles Champion is presented with the Stephen & Carol Piercy Trophy, while the Doubles Champions receive the CNZ Trophies.

The Doubles Plate was introduced in 2013 to reward players on the other side of the draw, with Hamish McIntosh adding to his three doubles titles to take the first ever plate along with partner Kieran Murphy. A year later, the Singles Plate was introduced and John Broughton was its inaugural winner. In both plates’ short history, Edmund Fordyce is the only player to have won it multiple times, winning the doubles with Duncan Dixon in 2015 and again in 2019 with George Coulter. Declan Leahy became the first player to do the Plate Double in 2017.

Below is a list of all the GC Nationals Singles and Doubles Champions (with number of titles in brackets):