It’s something we hear a lot about, particularly at this time of year when the US Open comes around: the five founding clubs of the United States Golf Association. And the story of how the USGA was formed is a fascinating one.
As the turn of the century dawned, American sports began to formally organize. Golf needed to follow suit, which became apparent in 1894, when Newport Country Club in Rhode Island and Saint Andrew’s Golf Club, New York, both hosted amateur competitions – and both clubs labelled theirs as the national championship.
Only one club could hold the official national championship, surely? There was to be a resolution. Before the final day of the Saint Andrew’s tournament, it was announced that an association composed of all the clubs in the United States would be formed. There was to be a new national governing body that would oversee a universally recognized championship and create a written set of rules.
Later that year, on December 22nd, 1894, the Amateur Golf Association of the United States was created (it would later become the USGA) in New York City. The five charter clubs were Newport Country Club, Saint Andrew ’s Golf Club, Chicago Golf Club, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club and The Country Club. Each of the five clubs has a long and storied history.
Saint Andrew’s, New York
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In February 1888, a Scottish sportsman named John Reid and several of his friends took some clubs to a pasture in Yonkers for a little knock. Watching on, were just a handful of cows, and the group of pals enjoyed a game around an improvised three-hole course. It wasn’t long before they had their own ‘clubhouse’ – an old apple tree from whose branches they would hang their coats and flasks of scotch whiskey.
A hundred years later and the club hosted an event that brought together many of the greatest names in the history of the game, including Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Kathy Whitworth, Nancy Lopez and Jack Nicklaus.
And as recently as 1995, Saint Andrew’s hosted the “Founders Cup” matches, a competition held among the five original founding members of the USGA to honor that organization’s centennial year.
Newport Country Club, Rhode Island
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Newport Country Club was founded in 1893, and, in 1895, played host to the first national championship to be sanctioned by the newly formed USGA. Horace Rawlins, Newport’s young assistant professional won over a…
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