2026 RDGA Match Play Championship

HOST: Canandaigua Country Club LOCATION: 1 Fallbrook Park, Canandaigua, NY 14424 DATES:  Monday-Wednesday, June 22-24, 2026 ELIGIBILITY: RDGA Members; men with a Handicap Index® less than 10.0 START TIMES: Various ENTRY FEE: $150 FIELD SIZE: 64; 32 players in Men's bracket, 16 each in Senior and Super Senior brackets REGISTRATION OPENS FOR EXEMPT PLAYERS: Monday, February 2, 2026 (9:00 am) REGISTRATION OPENS FOR NON EXEMPT PLAYERS (H.I. of 9.9 or less): May 18, 2026 (9:00 am) REGISTRATION DEADLINE FOR ALL PLAYERS: Monday, June 8, 2026 (11:59 pm)   FORMAT: The RDGA Match Play Championships include separate competitions for Men (ages 18-54), Seniors (ages 55-64s) - and Super Seniors (ages 65-plus). The Men's bracket features a starting field of 32 players; and the Senior and Super Senior brackets each feature a starting field of 16 players - all three brackets include single-elimination match play over the course of four or five rounds during the 3-day Championship and culminating with the Championship finals on Wednesday, June 24.   ABOUT: The first RDGA major championship event of the season, the format of the 2026 RDGA Match Play Championship features a 32-player bracket, competing in five rounds over three days. The 2026 RDGA Senior and RDGA Super Senior Match Play Championships feature 16-player brackets, with each division competing in four rounds over the three days of the Championship. (The Semi Finals and Final Matches for all three Divisions will be played on the final day of the competition.) Registration for this Championship opens on February 2 for the Top 32-ranked Men's bracket players and the Top 16-ranked players in the Senior and Super Senior brackets - all based on points from the 2025 season. Those players have an exclusive opportunity to register until May 18 at midnight.  After that, registration also becomes open to the next players ranked down the 2025 points list and then active RDGA members with a GHIN® Handicap Index® of 9.9 or less, beginning on May 19 at 9:00 am. (Exempt players may still sign up until the official close of registration on June 11.)   PLEASE NOTE: EXEMPT PLAYERS FROM ALL THREE DIVISIONS MAY REGISTER FOR THE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP BEGINNING ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2   Once registration has closed, all three brackets will be seeded based on the rankings from the 2025 Men's, Senior and Super Senior Player-of-the-Year points lists first, then by lowest handicap index for those registered players who were unranked. Click on the Match Play Exemptions lists under the Tournament Information tab, above, to see if you are eligible to register on Feb. 2.