At the end of the nine-week round robin Christchurch was on 16 points, Clearwater, 15, while Templeton, 14, were the favourites.
Christchurch won their semi-final against Harewood 5-3 in a tight tussle.
After eight holes it was all tied up. After 14 holes Christchurch were ahead by one. During the last few holes Jason Sincock had to produce some great play to beat Scott Manyweathers 1 up.
A stunning birdie on the 18th gave No 3 Josh Smith (Harewood) a 1up win over Tim Leonard.
Tom Reid, Peter Lee and Reid Hilton were the other Christchurch winners. Alisdair Reid and Mika MacDonald gained halves.
The other semi-final was even closer but amazingly produced exactly the same result as the 2022 final, a 4 ½. – 3 ½ win for Templeton.
Unfortunately Clearwater’s No 2, Canterbury representative Sam McGill, was unable to play.
Clearwater got off to a good start with No 1 Dominic Brett Brettkelly too good for James Standeven 5 and 4.
Cooper Moore at No 3 won 2up over Dan Laughton. Will Bastings, No 8, was the other Clearwater winner 3 and 2 over Tom Wilson.
However, Templeton dominated the middle order with Nick Franzman, Ryan Bellamy and Dave Zohrab all winning comfortably. Mike Toeke was the other Templeton winner.
Templeton has beaten Christchurch in the round robin so a close battle was expected in the final. Christchurch started well with Alisdair Reid winning the No 8 battle with Tom Wilson 5 and 3.
Jordan Latter then came from behind to beat Mica Macdonald 2 and 1 to even the score.
It was tit for tat with Sincock continuing his good form beating Zohrab 2up. Then it was Templeton’s Ryan Bellamy making it 2all with a 3 and 2 win over Richard Reed.
At this stage Christchurch took some control with Canterbury representative Reid Hilton imperious in defeating James Standeven 6 and 5 and Tim Leonard snatching a 1up win over Dan Laughton.
So Templeton needed to win the last two matches to earn a playoff.
With the last two pairs playing the 18th hole the large crowd watched with either expectation or trepidation.
Toeke maintained his 1up lead on the 18th, leaving the No 1 players deciding the outcome.
Tom Lee was safely on the green for Christchurch but Nick Franzman, who had fought back from 3 down, was mortified to hit out of bounds twice and conceded the match leaving Christchurch winners 5 and 3.
Christchurch manager Bruce McPhail said: "It was an agonisingly close match.
"It was an unfortunate ending to the battle, but in our 150th jubilee year we were very happy to win.
"We must commend both Templeton and Harewood for their sportsmanship and the gracious manner in which they handled their disappointment."
-By Neville Idour
