Organised women's golf matches were first played in New Zealand in 1893, when a match-play championship was established. This championship, and a cup donated by the late Mrs G. G. Stead, have been competed for each year, except during the two wars. Until 1905 women's championship meetings were held under the auspices of the men's association. In 1905 it was decided at a meeting in Napier that the Auckland, Napier, Manawatu, Wanganui, Wairarapa, Hutt-Wellington, Christchurch, Timaru, North Otago, and Otago clubs should affiliate with the British Women's Golf Union. Further autonomy came in 1910 when a meeting in Christchurch decided to form a separate branch of the union in New Zealand. The New Zealand union is still affiliated with the British union and carries out its general policy. There are now 308 clubs and about 19,000 members in the New Zealand union.