Timeline of golf history (1851-1945)

1851–1860

1851 in sports

1851 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-Bandy:Events* By the second half of the 19th century, bandy has become popular among the masses throughout the Russian Empire. Traditionally, the Russians use a longer skate blade than other nations, giving them the advantage of skating...

The Prestwick Golf Club

Prestwick Golf Club

Prestwick Golf Club is located in the town of Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is approximately southwest of Scotland's largest city, Glasgow. Prestwick is a classic links golf course, being built on the rolling sandy land that "links" the beach and the land further inland...

is founded.

1856

1856 in sports

-Baseball:Events* The four established New York clubs play nine matches between August 30 and October 28. Several other clubs in present New York City play matches against a rival or two...

The Royal Curragh Golf Club is founded at Kildare, the first golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

club in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. Pau Golf Club is founded, the first on the Continent.

A rule change is enacted that, in match play, the ball must be played as it lies or the hole be conceded. It is the last recorded toughening of the rules structure.

1857

1857 in sports

-Baseball:National championship* National Association of Base Ball Players champion – Brooklyn Atlantics* In May, sixteen base ball clubs from modern New York City convene and revise the rules including replacement of 21 runs by 9 innings...

"The Golfer's Manual", by "A Keen Hand" (H. B. Farnie), is published. It is the first book on golf instruction.

The Prestwick Club institutes the first Championship Meeting, a foursomes competition at St. Andrews attended by eleven golf clubs. George Glennie and J.C. Stewart win for Blackheath.

1858

1858 in sports

-Baseball:National championship* National Association of Base Ball Players champion – New York MutualsEvents* "All New York" and "All Brooklyn" Nines play three matches at the Fashion Race Course in Queens, with the All New York Nine winning the first and third...

The format of the Championship Meeting is changed to individual match play and is won by Robert Chambers of Bruntsfield.

Allan Robertson

Allan Robertson

Allan Robertson was a golf player, considered one of the first professional golfers. He was born in St Andrews, Scotland, the "home of golf"....

becomes the first golfer to break 80 at the Old Course, recording a 79.

The King James VI Golf Club

King James VI Golf Club

King James VI Golf Club, located in Perth, Scotland, is a private golf course also open to visitors. The River Tay setting is notable as it is the country's only self-contained course on a river island. The Island course is only accessible by foot by a side-walk on the side of a train bridge...

is founded in Perth, Scotland

Perth, Scotland

Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...

.

1859

1859 in sports

1859 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-Australian rules football:Events* 14 May — Melbourne Football Club is founded* 17 May — Australian rules football is codified* 18 July — Geelong Football Club is founded-Baseball:...

The first Amateur Championship is won by George Condie of Perth.

Death of Allan Robertson, the first great professional golfer.

1860–1870

1860

1860 in sports

-Baseball:National championship* National Association of Base Ball Players champion – Brooklyn AtlanticsEvents* The Excelsior club from Brooklyn, led by the sensational fast pitcher Jim Creighton, tours as far as Buffalo, New York, spreading the game, advanced points of play and baseball...

The Prestwick Club

Prestwick Golf Club

institutes a Professional Championship played at Prestwick; the first Championship Belt is won by Willie Park, Snr.

Willie Park, Snr.

William "Willie" Park, Sr. was one of the pioneers of professional golf.Park was born in Musselburgh, Scotland. Like some of the other early professional golfers, Park started out as a caddie. He later ran a golf equipment manufacturing business...

1861

1861 in sports

-Baseball:National championship* National Association of Base Ball Players champion – Brooklyn AtlanticsEvents* The National Association establishes the December annual meeting, a change from March, meeting twice during calendar 1860...

The Professionals Championship is opened to amateurs, and The Open Championship

The Open Championship

The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...

is born. The first competition is won by Old Tom Morris

Tom Morris, Sr.

Thomas Mitchell Morris, Sr. , otherwise known as Old Tom Morris, was a pioneer of professional golf. He was born in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, the "home of golf" and location of the St Andrews Links and died there as well. His son was Tom Morris, Jr...

.

1864

1864 in sports

-Association football:Events* 7 December — Notts County, then called Notts FC, is formally established and remains the oldest club in the Football League-Baseball:National championship...

The North Devon Golf Club

Royal North Devon Golf Club

Royal North Devon Golf Club was founded in 1864, and is the oldest golf course in England. The course was designed by Old Tom Morris. RND is located on Northam Burrows between Northam and Westward Ho! Traditionally the course has been referred to as Westward Ho! - golf writer Bernard Darwin,...

is founded at Westward Ho!

Westward Ho!

Westward Ho! is a seaside village near Bideford in Devon, England. The A39 road provides access from the towns of Barnstaple, Bideford and Bude...

1865

1865 in sports

-Association football:Events* Nottingham Forest, then called Forest FC, is founded in December by its parent hockey club. It is the third oldest club in the Football League after Notts County and Stoke City...

The London Scottish Golf Club http://www.londonscottishgolfclub.co.uk/ is founded on Wimbledon Common

1867

1867 in sports

-Association football:England* Formation of the Sheffield FA, which continues to promote its own Sheffield Rules. The Sheffield FA establishes the local Youdan Cup, the first organised football tournament, which is won by Hallam FC....

The Ladies' Golf Club at St. Andrews is founded, the first golf club for women.

1869

1869 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Princeton Tigers and Rutgers Scarlet Knights Events...

The Liverpool Golf Club

Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake

The Royal Liverpool Golf Club is a leading golf club in Merseyside in North West England. It was founded in 1869 on what was then the racecourse of the Liverpool Hunt Club, and received the "Royal" designation in 1871 due to the patronage of the Duke of Connaught of the day, who was one of Queen...

is founded at Hoylake, later Royal Liverpool.

Young Tom Morris

Tom Morris, Jr.

Tom Morris, Jr. , known as "Young Tom Morris", was one of the pioneers of professional golf, and was the first young prodigy in golf history...

, age 17, wins the first of four successive Open Championships. His streak would include an 11-stroke victory in 1869 and a 12-stroke victory in 1870 (in a 36-hole format). His 149 in the 1870 Open over 36 holes is a stroke average that would not be equalled until the invention of the rubber-cored ball.

1870–1880

1870

1870 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Princeton TigersEvents* Columbia Lions joins the college football circuit and loses to Rutgers Scarlet Knights in its only game. Princeton Tigers beats Rutgers...

Young Tom Morris wins his third consecutive Open Championship, thus winning permanent possession of the Belt.

The Royal Adelaide Golf Club

Royal Adelaide Golf Club

The Royal Adelaide Golf Club is a private golf club in Adelaide, South Australia. It is widely acknowledged as ranking with the best in Australia, and has a world ranking that fluctuates around 50....

is founded, the first golf club in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

1871

1871 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – noneEvents* The 1871 college football season is the only one since the first season in 1869 until the present day that no games are played in the entire season...

The Otago Golf Club is formed, the first club in New Zealand.

1872

1872 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Princeton Tigers and Yale Bulldogs Events* Five teams compete in the 1872 college football season: , , , and .-Association football:England...

The Open Championship is reinstituted when Prestwick, St. Andrews and the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers

Muirfield (Scotland)

Muirfield is a privately owned links which is the home of The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. Located in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland, overlooking the Firth of Forth, Muirfield is one of the golf courses used in rotation for The Open Championship.Muirfield has hosted The Open...

offer a new trophy, with the Open Championship to be hosted in rotation by the three clubs.

Young Tom Morris wins his fourth consecutive Open Championship.

1873

1873 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Princeton TigersEvents* 19 October — representatives of Yale Bulldogs, Columbia Lions, Princeton Tigers and Rutgers Scarlet Knights meet at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York City to codify the first set of...

The Christchurch Golf Club is formed, the second club in New Zealand.

The Royal Montreal Golf Club

Royal Montreal Golf Club

The Royal Montreal Golf Club is the oldest golf club in the Americas, having been founded in 1873. In that year, a small group of eight gentlemen sat in a dockside office and formed the Montreal Golf Club...

is formed, the first club in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

The Open Championship is held for the first time at the Old Course.

1875

1875 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Harvard Crimson and Princeton Tigers Events* 13 November — first edition of "The Game", the annual contest between Yale Bulldogs and Harvard Crimson, is played under a modified set of rugby football rules known as...

The Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

and Cambridge

University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

University Golf Clubs are founded.

Young Tom Morris dies at age 24. He did not emotionally recover from the death of both his wife and their daughter in childbirth earlier that year.

Vesper Country Club

Vesper Country Club

The Vesper Country Club, founded in 1899, is located on the Merrimack River in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts. According to the USGA, and Golf Magazine, its golf course is one of the first in the United States, and was home to the first Massachusetts Open in 1905, won by golfer and course designer...

is formed in Tyngsboro, MA.

1878

1878 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Princeton TigersEvents* Inaugural match between Philips Andover and Philips Exeter, believed to be the sport's oldest high school rivalry-Association football:...

The first University Match is played on the London Scottish Golf Club course at Wimbledon, won by Oxford.

1880–1890

1881

1881 in sports

1881 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Princeton Tigers and Yale Bulldogs Events...

Royal Belfast is founded.

The use of moulds is instituted to dimple the gutta-percha ball. Golfers had long noticed that the guttie worked in the air much better after it had been hit several times and scuffed up.

1883

1883 in sports

1883 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Yale BulldogsEvents...

Bob Ferguson

Bob Ferguson (golfer)

Robert Ferguson , was a Scottish golfer who won a hat-trick of titles at The Open Championship in 1880, 1881 and 1882. He was especially noted for his putting. He is one of only four men who have won The Open three years in a row...

of Musselburgh

Musselburgh Links

Musselburgh Links in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland, is generally recognised as the oldest golf course in the world, and the oldest on which play has been continuous...

, losing The Open in extra holes, comes one victory shy of equalling Young Tom Morris' record of four consecutive titles. Ferguson ends up later in life penniless, working out of the Musselburgh caddy-shack.

1884

1884 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Princeton Tigers and Yale Bulldogs Events* Amos Alonzo Stagg enters Yale University as a divinity student and, a natural athlete, joins the university's football team.-Association football:England* FA Cup final –...

The Oakhurst Golf Club is founded at White Sulphur Springs. The first hole at The Homestead

The Homestead, Virginia

The Homestead is a luxury resort in Hot Springs, Virginia, in the middle of the Allegheny Mountains. The area has the largest hot springs in the state, and the resort is also known for its championship golf courses, which have hosted several national tournaments. The resort also includes an...

survives from this course and is the oldest surviving golf hole in America

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

1885

1885 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Princeton Tigers-Association football:England* FA Cup final – Blackburn Rovers 2–0 Queen's Park at The Oval...

The Amateur Championship

The Amateur Championship is a golf tournament which is held annually in the United Kingdom. It is one of the two leading individual tournaments for amateur golfers, alongside the U.S. Amateur...

is first played at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake

Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake

.

The Royal Cape Golf Club is founded at Wynberg, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, the first club in Africa.

1886

1886 in sports

1886 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Princeton Tigers and Yale Bulldogs -Association football:England...

A.J. Balfour

Arthur Balfour

Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC, DL was a British Conservative politician and statesman...

is appointed Chief Secretary (Cabinet Minister) for Ireland; his rise to political and social prominence has an incalculable effect on the popularity of golf, as he is an indefatigable player and catalyzes great interest in the game through his writing and public speaking. Alexander H. Findlay, later to become the Father of American Golf, was the first in the world to score a 72 in competition for 18 holes at the Mercantile Golf Club in Montrose, Scotland.

1887

1887 in sports

1887 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Yale BulldogsEvents...

"The Art of Golf" by Sir Walter Simpson is published.

1887

1887 in sports

1887 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Yale BulldogsEvents...

The Foxburg Country Club

Foxburg Country Club

Foxburg Country Club, established in 1887, is the oldest golf course "in continuous use" in the United States. It was listed as Foxburg Country Club and Golf Course on the National Register of Historic Places...

is founded in Foxburg, Pennsylvania

Foxburg, Pennsylvania

Foxburg is a borough in Clarion County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located along the east bank of the Allegheny River, about two miles north of its confluence with the Clarion River.-History:...

, the oldest golf course in the United States in continuous use in one place.

1887

1887 in sports

1887 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Yale BulldogsEvents...

Essex County Country Club in West Orange, NJ was incorporated in May of 1887, a Constitution was adopted in January of 1888 which established the Club
1888 Kebo Valley Golf Club is the 8th oldest Golf course in the US.

1888

1888 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Yale Bulldogs Events* Tackling below the waist is legalised.-Association football:England...

The St. Andrew's Golf Club is founded in Yonkers, New York

Yonkers, New York

Yonkers is the fourth most populous city in the state of New York , and the most populous city in Westchester County, with a population of 195,976...

, the oldest surviving golf club in America.

1890–1900

1890

1890 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Harvard Crimson-Association football:England* The Football League – Preston North End 33 points, Everton 31, Blackburn Rovers 27, Wolves 25, West Bromwich Albion 25, Accrington FC 24* FA Cup final – Blackburn Rovers...

John Ball

John Ball (golfer)

John Ball, Jr. was a prominent English amateur golfer of the late 19th and early 20th century.Ball was born in Hoylake, Merseyside. His father was the prosperous owner of the Royal Hotel, located near the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, in Hoylake...

, an English amateur, becomes the first non-Scotsman and first amateur to win The Open Championship.

Bogey is invented by Hugh Rotherham, as the score of the hypothetical golfer playing perfect golf at every hole. Rotherham calls this a "Ground Score," but Dr. Thomas Brown, honorary Secretary of the Great Yarmouth Club, christens this hypothetical man a "Bogey Man," after a popular song of the day, and christens his score a "Bogey." With the invention of the rubber-cored ball golfers are able to reach the greens in fewer strokes, and so bogey has come to represent one over the par score for the hole.

1891

1891 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Yale BulldogsEvents* Kansas defeats Missouri in the first Border War game 22-10 beginning one of the oldest and most fierce college football rivalries....

The Golfing Union of Ireland is founded on 12 October 1891 and is the oldest Golfing Union in the world.

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club is a links-style golf club located in the hamlet of Shinnecock Hills in the town of Southampton on Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. It has hosted the U.S. Open four times in three different centuries and will host the 2018 U.S. Open...

is founded on Long Island

Long Island

Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...

.

Warkworth Golf Club is founded in Northumberland, designed by Old Tom Morris

1892

1892 in sports

1892 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Yale BulldogsEvents...

Palmetto Golf Club established in Aiken, South Carolina

Aiken, South Carolina

Aiken is a city in and the county seat of Aiken County, South Carolina, United States. With Augusta, Georgia, it is one of the two largest cities of the Central Savannah River Area. It is part of the Augusta-Richmond County Metropolitan Statistical Area. Aiken is home to the University of South...

.

Glen Arven Country Club golf course established in Thomasville, Georgia USA; the oldest course still in use in Georgia.

Gate money is charged for the first time, at a match between Douglas Rollard and Jack White at Cambridge. The practice of paying for matches through private betting, rather than gate receipts and sponsorships, survives well into the 20th Century as a "Calcutta

Calcutta (gambling)

A Calcutta auction is an open auction held in conjunction with a golf tournament, horse race or similar contest with multiple entrants. It is popular in backgammon, the Melbourne Cup, and college basketball pools during March Madness...

," but increasingly gate receipts are the source of legitimate prize purses.

The Amateur Golf Championship of India and the East is instituted, the first international championship event.

1893

1893 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Princeton TigersEvents* 22 February — Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers meet at Lakeview Baseball Park in Birmingham, Alabama for the first Iron Bowl....

The Ladies' Golf Union

Ladies' Golf Union

The Ladies' Golf Union is the governing body for women's and girls' amateur golf in Great Britain and Ireland . It was founded in 1893 and is based in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, which is often known as the "Home of Golf"...

of Great Britain and Ireland is founded and the first British Ladies Amateur Golf Championship

British Ladies Amateur Golf Championship

The British Ladies Amateur Golf Championship was founded in 1893 by the Ladies' Golf Union of Great Britain. Until the dawn of the professional era in 1976, it was the most important golf tournament for women in Great Britain and would eventually begin to draw golfers from continental Europe...

won by Lady Margaret Scott

Lady Margaret Scott

Lady Margaret Rachel Scott was a dominant player in early women's golf, who won the first three British Ladies Amateurs in 1893, 1894, and 1895....

at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club

Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club

Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England, is one of the courses in the Open Championship rotation. The Women's British Open has also been played on the course four times: once prior to being designated a major championship by the LPGA Tour, and three times since.The...

.

The Irish Ladies' Golf Union is founded and is the oldest Ladies Golf Union in the world.

The Chicago Golf Club

Chicago Golf Club

Chicago Golf Club is a private golf club in Wheaton, Illinois in the United States. It is the oldest 18-hole course in North America and was one of the five clubs which founded the United States Golf Association in 1894. Its founder, Charles B. Macdonald, won the first official U.S...

opens the United States' first 18-hole golf course on the site of the present-day Downers Grove

Downers Grove, Illinois

Downers Grove is a village in Downers Grove and Lisle Townships, DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 48,724 at the 2000 census, with an official estimated population of 49,250 in 2008.-History:...

Golf Course. The Chicago Golf Club moved to its current location in 1895.

Victoria Golf Club is formed and remains the oldest course west of the Mississippi on its original site.

The Segregansett Country Club opens in Taunton, Massachusetts. This course is still in operation.

1894

1894 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Penn Quakers, and Yale Bulldogs Events* The 1894 Harvard–Yale game, known as the "Hampden Park Blood Bath", results in crippling injuries for four players; the contest is suspended until 1897. The annual Army–Navy...

The Open is played on an English course for the first time and is won for the first time by an Englishman, J.H. Taylor

John Henry Taylor

John Henry "J.H." Taylor was an English professional golfer and one of the pioneers of the modern game of golf. He was also a significant golf course architect....

. Taylor, along with Harry Vardon

Harry Vardon

Harry Vardon was a Jersey professional golfer and member of the fabled Great Triumvirate of the sport in his day, along with John Henry Taylor and James Braid. He won The Open Championship a record six times and also won the U.S. Open.-Biography:Vardon was born in Grouville, Jersey, Channel Islands...

and James Braid

James Braid (golfer)

James Braid was a Scottish professional golfer and a member of the Great Triumvirate of the sport alongside Harry Vardon and John Henry Taylor. He won The Open Championship five times...

(together known as the Great Triumvirate

Great Triumvirate (golf)

The Great Triumvirate, in a golfing context, refers to the three leading British golfers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: Harry Vardon, John Henry Taylor, and James Braid. The trio combined to win The Open Championship 16 times in the 21 tournaments held between 1894 and 1914; Vardon...

) would dominate the Open Championship for the next two decades.

The United States Golf Association

United States Golf Association

The United States Golf Association is the United States' national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the Rules of Golf. The USGA also provides a national handicap system...

is founded as the Amateur Golf Association of the United States. Charter members are the Chicago Golf Club, The Country Club

The Country Club

The Country Club, located in Brookline, Massachusetts, is one of the oldest country club in the United States. It holds an important place in golf history, as it is one of the five charter clubs that founded the United States Golf Association, and has hosted numerous USGA tournaments including the...

, Newport Country Club

Newport Country Club

Newport Country Club, founded in 1893, is a historic private golf club in Newport, Rhode Island in the United States that hosted both the first U.S. Amateur Championship and the first U.S...

, St. Andrew's Golf Club, and Shinnecock Hills Golf Club

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club

.

Tacoma

Tacoma, Washington

Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...

Golf Club is founded, the first golf club on the US Pacific Coast.

1895

1895 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Penn Quakers and Yale Bulldogs Events* 3 September – the earliest known professional football game is played in Latrobe, Pennsylvania where Latrobe YMCA defeats the Jeannette Athletic Club 12–0.-Association...

The U.S. Amateur is instituted, with Charles B. Macdonald

Charles B. Macdonald

Charles Blair Macdonald was a major figure in early American golf. He built the first 18-hole course in the United States, was a driving force in the founding of the United States Golf Association, won the first U.S...

winning the inaugural event. The first U.S. Open

U.S. Open (golf)

The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...

is held the following day, with Horace Rawlins

Horace Rawlins

Horace Rawlins was an English professional golfer who won the first U.S. Open Championship in 1895, so was the first winner of a "major" outside the UK....

winning.

July 6, 1895 - Van Cortlandt Park

Van Cortlandt Park

Van Cortlandt Park is a park located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the fourth largest park in New York City, behind Pelham Bay Park, Flushing Meadows Park and Staten Island Greenbelt....

Golf Course opens - the first public golf course in America.

The pool cue is banned as a putter by the USGA.

The U.S. Women's Amateur is instituted. Mrs. Charles S. Brown (née Lucy N. Barnes) is the first winner.

1896

1896 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Lafayette Leopards and Princeton Tigers -Association football:England...

Harry Vardon

wins his first British Open.

1897

1897 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Penn Quakers and Yale Bulldogs -Association football:England...

The first NCAA Championship

NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships

The NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships, played in late May or early June, is the top annual competition in U.S. men's collegiate golf. It is a stroke play team competition, starting in 2009 the competition changed to a stroke play/match play competition with the top 8 teams after 54 holes of...

is held. Louis Bayard, Jr. is the winner.

"Golf", America's first golfing magazine, is published for the first time.

1898

1898 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Harvard Crimson and Princeton Tigers Events* The Morgan Athletic Club, which will eventually become Arizona Cardinals, is founded in Chicago and is the sport's oldest professional team.-Association football:England*...

The term "birdie" is coined at Atlantic C.C. from "a bird of a hole."

Freddie Tait

Frederick Guthrie Tait

Frederick Guthrie Tait was a Scottish soldier and amateur golfer.Born in Edinburgh, the third son of eminent physicist and fanatical amateur golfer Peter Guthrie Tait, Frederick was educated at the Edinburgh Academy and Sedbergh School. He entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst at the second...

, betting he could reach the Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club

Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club

Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club is in the town of Deal in the County of Kent in Southern England . It was founded in 1892. The name derives from Deal's membership of an ancient group of trading towns granted special privileges by the medieval English monarchs, known as the Cinque Ports...

clubhouse from the clubhouse at Royal St George's Golf Club

Royal St George's Golf Club

The Royal St George's Golf Club is one of the premier golf clubs in the United Kingdom, and one of the courses on The Open Championship rotation. It has hosted 13 Open championships since 1894, when it became the first club outside Scotland to host the championship...

- a three mile distance - in forty shots or less, puts his 32nd stroke through a window at the Cinque Ports club.

The Haskell ball is designed and patented by Coburn Haskell. It is the first rubber-cored ball.

Church Stretton Golf Club is founded, the oldest 18-hole course in Shropshire

Shropshire

Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...

and one of the highest courses in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

and the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

1899

1899 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Harvard Crimson and Princeton Tigers Events* The 1899 Sewanee Tigers football team goes undefeated, 12–0, including five road wins in six days over top teams....

The Western Open

Western Open

The Western Open, a professional golf tournament, was first played in 1899. At the time of its 2006 playing, the Western Open was the 3rd oldest active PGA Tour tournament, after the British Open and U.S. Open...

is first played at Glenview

Glenview, Cook County, Illinois

Glenview is a suburban village located approximately north of downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 41,847...

G.C., the first tournament in what would evolve into the PGA Tour

PGA Tour

The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...

1900–1910

1900

1900 in sports

1900 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Yale Bulldogs-Association football:England...

Walter Travis

Walter J. Travis was the most successful amateur golfer in the U.S. during the early 1900s, a noted golf journalist and publisher, an innovator in all aspects of golf, a teacher, and a respected golf course architect...

wins the first of his three U.S. Amateurs.
Harry Vardon wins the U.S. Open, the first golfer to win both the British and U.S. Opens.

Golf is placed on the Olympic

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

calendar for the 2nd Games at Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

.

1901

1901 in sports

1901 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Harvard Crimson, Michigan Wolverines and Yale Bulldogs -Association football:England...

The PGA

Professional Golfers' Association (Great Britain & Ireland)

The Professional Golfers' Association is the professional body which represents the interests of teaching and club golf professionals in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland...

- Professional Golfers' Association (Great Britain & Ireland) is established.

Walter Travis wins his second U.S. Amateur, and becomes the first golfer to win a major title with the Haskell ball, the first rubber-cored golf ball. When Sandy Herd

Sandy Herd

Alexander "Sandy" Herd was a Scottish professional golfer from St Andrews.Herd was the club professional at Huddersfield Golf Club from 1892 to 1911. In 1902, he won The Open Championship at Hoylake. He had a three shot lead after 54 holes, but nearly let the title slip out of his hands by scoring...

wins the British Open and Laurie Auchterlonie

Laurie Auchterlonie

Lawrence "Laurie" Auchterlonie was a Scottish professional golfer. He was a native of St Andrews, the "Home of Golf". In 1902, representing the Chicago Golf Club, he won the eighth U.S...

the U.S. Open the next year with the Haskell, virtually all competitors switch to the new ball.

Sunningdale, a course built amidst a cleared forest, opens for play. It is the first course with grass grown completely from seed. Previously, golf courses were routed through meadows, which frequently created drainage problems as the meadows were typically atop clay soil.

The first course at the Carolina Hotel (later the Pinehurst Resort & CC

Pinehurst Resort

Pinehurst Resort is a historic upmarket golf resort at Pinehurst, North Carolina, USA. It has hosted a number of prestigious golf tournaments.-History:...

) in Pinehurst, North Carolina

Pinehurst, North Carolina

Pinehurst is a village in Moore County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 9,706 at the 2000 census. It is the location of the Pinehurst Resort, venue of the 1936 PGA Championship, the 1951 Ryder Cup. The host site for the 1999, 2005,& 2014 U.S. Open Golf Championships, the 2008 U.S....

, is completed by Donald Ross. Ross will go on to design 600 courses in his storied career as a golf course architect.

Walter Travis publishes his first book, "Practical Golf", a tome that received a rave review in the New York Times.

1902

1902 in sports

1902 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Michigan Wolverines and Yale Bulldogs Events...

England and Scotland inaugurate an Amateur Team competition, with Scotland winning at Hoylake.

The first grooved-faced irons are invented.

1903

1903 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Michigan Wolverines and Princeton Tigers -Association football:England...

Walter Travis becomes the first three-time U.S. Amateur champion.

Oakmont Country Club

Oakmont Country Club

Oakmont Country Club is a country club and the "oldest top-ranked golf course in the U. S.", in the Pittsburgh suburbs of Plum and Oakmont, Pennsylvania, USA. The Pennsylvania Turnpike separates the eastern seven holes from the rest of the course....

is founded in Oakmont, Pennsylvania

Oakmont, Pennsylvania

Oakmont is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA. It is a Pittsburgh suburb and part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The population was 6,303 at the 2010 census....

, designed by Henry Fownes. It is widely regarded as one of the finest examples of penal-style golf architecture.

1904

1904 in sports

1904 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Michigan Wolverines, Minnesota Golden Gophers and Penn Quakers -Association football:England...

Walter Travis becomes the first American to win the British Amateur

The Amateur Championship

The Amateur Championship is a golf tournament which is held annually in the United Kingdom. It is one of the two leading individual tournaments for amateur golfers, alongside the U.S. Amateur...

using the center-shafted, Schenectady putter.

Golf makes its second and final Olympic appearance at the Olympic Games

1904 Summer Olympics

The 1904 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the III Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States from 1 July 1904, to November 23, 1904, at what is now known as Francis Field on the campus of Washington University...

in St. Louis.

1905

1905 in sports

1905 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Chicago Maroons and Yale Bulldogs Events...

Women golfers from Britain and the United States play an international match, with the British winning 6 matches to 1.

The first dimple-pattern for golf balls is patented by William Taylor in England.

"The Complete Golfer" by Harry Vardon is published. It promotes and demonstrates the Vardon or overlapping grip.

1906

1906 in sports

1906 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Princeton Tigers and Yale Bulldogs Events...

Goodrich introduces a golf ball with a rubber core filled with compressed air. The "Pneu-matic" proves quite lively, but also prone to explode in warm weather, often in a golfer's pocket. The ball is eventually discontinued; at this time the Haskell ball achieves a dominance of the golf ball market.

1907

1907 in sports

1907 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Yale Bulldogs-Association football:England...

Arnaud Massy

Arnaud Massy was one of France's most successful professional golfers.Massy was born in Biarritz, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France...

becomes the first golfer from Continental Europe to win The Open Championship.

1908

1908 in sports

1908 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Harvard Crimson, LSU Tigers and Penn Quakers -Association football:England...

Mrs. Gordon Robertson, at Princes Ladies GC, becomes the first female professional.

"The Mystery of Golf" by Arnold Haultain

Arnold Haultain

-Life:Haultain was born on 3 November 1857 in Cannanore, India. He was the son of Major Gen. Francis Mitchell Haultain and Isabella Thomas. He was for many years secretary to Goldwin Smith in Toronto, writing a memoir and acting as literary executor after his death....

is published.

The golf magazine "The American Golfer" is launched by Walter Travis.

A dispute over the format of the competition leads to the cancellation of the golf tournament at the 1908 Summer Olympics

1908 Summer Olympics

The 1908 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the IV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in 1908 in London, England, United Kingdom. These games were originally scheduled to be held in Rome. At the time they were the fifth modern Olympic games...

.

The Great Southern Golf Club was the first golf course was in Mississippi.

1909

1909 in sports

1909 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Yale Bulldogs-Association football:England...

The USGA rules that caddies, caddymasters and greenkeepers over the age of sixteen are professional golfers. The ruling is later modified and eventually reversed in 1963.

1910–1920

1910

1910 in sports

1910 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-American football:College championship* College football national championship –Auburn Tigers, Harvard Crimson and Pittsburgh Panthers -Association football:England...

The R & A bans the center-shafted putter while the USGA keeps it legal - marking the beginning of a 42-year period with two official versions of The Rules of Golf.

Steel shafts are patented by Arthur F. Knight.

1911

1911 in sports

1911 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Penn State Nittany Lions and Princeton Tigers -Association football:England...

John McDermott

John McDermott (golfer)

John J. McDermott Jr. was the first U.S.-born golfer to win the U.S. Open, in 1911 and 1912, and he remains the youngest-ever champion of that event, at age 19. He was the first player to break par over 72 holes in a significant event, which he did at the 1912 U.S. Open...

becomes the first native-born American to win the U.S. Open. At 17 years of age, he is also the youngest winner to date.

1912

1912 in sports

1912 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Harvard Crimson and Penn State Nittany Lions -Association football:England...

John Ball

John Ball (golfer)

wins his eighth British Amateur championship, a record not yet equalled.

1913

1913 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Auburn Tigers, Chicago Maroons and Harvard Crimson -Association football:England...

Francis Ouimet

Francis DeSales Ouimet was an American golfer, who is frequently referred to as the "father of amateur golf" in the United States. He won the 1913 U.S. Open, and was the first American elected Captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews...

, age 20, becomes the first amateur to win the U.S. Open, defeating favorites Harry Vardon and Ted Ray

Ted Ray (golfer)

Edward R. G. "Ted" Ray was a British professional golfer born on the Isle of Jersey. He won two major championships and contended in many others during the early years of the 20th century.-Biography:...

in a play-off.

The first professional international match is played between France and the United States at La Boulie Golf Club, France.

1914

1914 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship –Auburn Tigers, Army Black Knights, Illinois Fighting Illini and Texas Longhorns -Association football:England...

Formation of The Tokyo Club at Komozawa kicks off the Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese golf boom.

Harry Vardon wins his sixth Open Championship, a record to this day (Peter Thomson and Tom Watson

Tom Watson (golfer)

Thomas Sturges Watson is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and now mostly on the Champions Tour....

have since won five Opens each).

1915

1915 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Cornell Big Red, Oklahoma Sooners and Pittsburgh Panthers -Association football:England...

The Open Championship is discontinued for the duration of the First World War

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

1916

1916 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Army Black Knights and Pittsburgh Panthers -Association football:Europe* There is no major football in Europe due to World War ISouth America...

The PGA of America is founded by 82 charter members and the PGA Championship

PGA Championship

The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship...

is inaugurated. Jim Barnes is the first champion.

The first miniature golf

Miniature golf

Miniature golf, or minigolf, is a miniature version of the sport of golf. While the international sports organization World Minigolf Sport Federation prefers to use the name "minigolf", the general public in different countries has also many other names for the game: miniature golf, mini-golf,...

course opens in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

Francis Ouimet is banned from amateur play for his involvement with a sporting goods business. The ruling creates a stir of protest and is reversed in 1918.

1917

1917 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets -Association football:Europe* There is no major football in Europe due to World War I...

The PGA Championship and the U.S. Open are discontinued for the duration of the First World War.

1919

1919 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Centre Praying Colonels, Harvard Crimson, Illinois Fighting Illini, Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Texas A&M Aggies...

The R & A assumes control over The Open Championship (British Open) and The Amateur Championship (British Amateur).

Pebble Beach Golf Links

Pebble Beach Golf Links

Pebble Beach Golf Links is a golf course located in Pebble Beach, California, on the west coast of the United States.Pebble Beach is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful courses in the world. It hugs the rugged coastline and has wide open views of Carmel Bay, opening to the Pacific Ocean,...

opens as the Del Monte G.L. in Pebble Beach, California

Pebble Beach, California

Pebble Beach is an unincorporated community in Monterey County, California. It lies at an elevation of 3 feet . Pebble Beach is a small coastal resort destination, home to the famous golf course, Pebble Beach Golf Links....

1920–1930

1920

1920 in sports

-American football:NFL championship* 17 September — the National Football League is founded as the American Professional Football Association at Canton, Ohio; it is a coalition of teams primarily from the Ohio League, New York Pro Football League, the Chicago football circuit, and other teams in...

The USGA founds its famed Green Section to conduct research on turfgrass.

The first practice range is opened in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

"The Professional Golfer of America" is first published which, today known as "PGA Magazine", is the oldest continually-published golf magazine in the United States.

A golf tournament is scheduled for the 1920 Summer Olympics

1920 Summer Olympics

The 1920 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium....

in Antwerp but it is ultimately cancelled.

1921

1921 in sports

-American football:NFL championship* Chicago Staleys win the 1921 American Professional Football Association title, albeit not without dispute...

The R & A limits the size and weight of the ball.

1922

1922 in sports

-American football:NFL championship* Canton Bulldogs wins the APFA title with a record of 10 wins, 0 losses and 2 ties.* The American Professional Football Association renames itself as the National Football League.College championship...

Walter Hagen

Walter Charles Hagen was a major figure in golf in the first half of the 20th century. His tally of eleven professional majors is third behind Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods . He won the U.S. Open twice, and in 1922 he became the first native-born American to win the British Open, which he went on...

becomes the first native American to win The Open Championship. He subsequently becomes the first professional golfer to open a golf equipment company under his own name.

The Walker Cup

Walker Cup

The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested biennially in odd numbered years between teams comprising the leading amateur golfers of the United States and Great Britain and Ireland...

Match is instituted. Two direct descendants of Walker Cup founder George Herbert Walker

George Herbert Walker

George Herbert Walker was a wealthy American banker and businessman. His daughter Dorothy married Prescott Bush, making him a grandfather of former President George H. W. Bush and a great-grandfather of former President George W. Bush.-Life and career:Born in St...

would become President of the United States

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

—his grandson George H. W. Bush

George H. W. Bush

George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...

, the 41st President, and his great-grandson George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

, the 43rd President.

The Prince of Wales

Edward VIII of the United Kingdom

Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and Emperor of India, from 20 January to 11 December 1936.Before his accession to the throne, Edward was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay...

is elected Captain of the R & A.

The Texas Open is inaugurated, the second-oldest surviving PGA Tour event.

Pine Valley Golf Club

Pine Valley Golf Club

Pine Valley Golf Club is a golf course in Pine Valley, Camden County, in southern New Jersey. It was ranked the number one course in Golf Magazines 100 Top Courses in the U.S. and the World in 2009.-History:...

opens in New Jersey.

1923

1923 in sports

-American football:NFL championship* Canton BulldogsCollege championship* College football national championship – California Golden Bears, Cornell Big Red, Illinois Fighting Illini and Michigan Wolverines -Association football:England...

The West and East courses at Winged Foot Golf Club

Winged Foot Golf Club

Winged Foot Golf Club is a 36-hole golf course located in Mamaroneck, New York. The course architect is A. W. Tillinghast, who also designed Baltusrol , Bethpage Black, Shackamaxon Country Club, San Francisco Golf Club, Cedar Crest Park, and nearby Quaker Ridge Golf Club and Wykagyl Country Club...

in Mamaroneck, New York

Mamaroneck (town), New York

Mamaroneck is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 29,156 at the 2010 census. There are two villages contained within the town: Larchmont and the Village of Mamaroneck...

open for play, designed by A.W. Tillinghast.

1924

1924 in sports

-American football:NFL championship* Cleveland BulldogsCollege championship* College football national championship – Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Penn Quakers -Association football:England...

Joyce Wethered

Joyce Wethered, Lady Heathcoat-Amory was a golfer widely regarded as the greatest British woman player of all time....

wins her record fifth consecutive English Ladies' Championship.

The Olympic Club

Olympic Club

The Olympic Club is a San Francisco, California, athletic club and private social club with three golf courses located at San Francisco's border with Daly City, California. The club's main "City Clubhouse" is located in downtown San Francisco. The club's "Lakeside Clubhouse" is located just north...

in San Francisco

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

opens for play.

The USGA legalizes steel shafted golf clubs. The R & A does not follow suit until 1929, widening the breach in The Rules of Golf.

1925

1925 in sports

-American football:NFL championship* Chicago Cardinals win a controversial National Football League title.* Five new teams join the NFL: New York Giants, Detroit Panthers, Providence Steam Roller, a new Canton Bulldogs team and the Pottsville Maroons....

The first fairway irrigation system is developed in Dallas, Texas

Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

.

Deep-grooved irons are banned by both the USGA and the R & A.

1926

1926 in sports

-American football:NFL championship* Frankford Yellow Jackets win the National Football League championship with a league record of 14–1–1College championship...

Jess Sweetser

Jesse W. Sweetser was an amateur golfer, best known as the first American-born player to win the British Amateur ....

becomes the first native-born American to win the British Amateur.

Bobby Jones

Bobby Jones (golfer)

Robert Tyre "Bobby" Jones Jr. was an American amateur golfer, and a lawyer by profession. Jones was the most successful amateur golfer ever to compete on a national and international level...

wins the British Open.

Gate money is instituted at the British Open.

Walter Hagen defeats Bobby Jones 12 and 11 in a privately sponsored 72-hole match in Florida.

The Los Angeles Open is inaugurated, the third-oldest surviving PGA Tour event. It is also the first tournament to offer a $10,000 purse.

1927

1927 in sports

-American football:NFL championship* New York Giants win National Football League titleCollege championship* College football national championship – Georgia Bulldogs, Illinois Fighting Illini, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Texas A&M Aggies and Yale Bulldogs -Association football:England* The Football...

The inaugural Ryder Cup

Ryder Cup

The Ryder Cup is a biennial golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is jointly administered by the PGA of America and the PGA European Tour, and is contested every two years, the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe...

Matches are played between Britain and the United States.

Creeping bentgrass is developed for putting greens by the U.S. Department of Agriculture

United States Department of Agriculture

The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...

.

1928

1928 in sports

-American football:NFL championship* Providence Steam Roller wins the National Football League titleCollege championship* College football national championship – University of Detroit Titans, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and USC Trojans...

Cypress Point Club

Cypress Point Club is a private golf club in California. The club has a single eighteen hole course, one of eight on the Monterey peninsula near Monterey, California. The course is well known around the world for its series of three holes that play along the Pacific Ocean: the 15th, 16th and 17th,...

opens, designed by Alister MacKenzie

Alister MacKenzie

Dr. Alister MacKenzie was an internationally renowned, British golf course architect whose course designs, on three different continents, are consistently ranked among the finest golf courses in the world...

.

1929

1929 in sports

-American football:NFL championship* Green Bay Packers wins National Football League titleCollege championship* College football national championship – Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Pittsburgh Panthers and USC Trojans Events...

Walter Hagen wins The Open Championship for the fourth time.

Seminole Golf Club opens in Palm Beach, Florida

Palm Beach, Florida

The Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...

, from a design by Donald Ross.

1930–1940

1930

1930 in sports

-American football:NFL championship* Green Bay Packers win the National Football League title with a record of 10–3–1College championship* College football national championship – Alabama Crimson Tide and Notre Dame Fighting Irish...

Bobby Jones

Bobby Jones (golfer)

Robert Tyre "Bobby" Jones Jr. was an American amateur golfer, and a lawyer by profession. Jones was the most successful amateur golfer ever to compete on a national and international level...

completes the original Grand Slam

Grand Slam of Golf

You may wish to visit:*Grand Slam for coverage of the concept of a grand slam as applied to golf*PGA Grand Slam of Golf, for the annual four man tournament for the winners of the major golf championships for men....

, winning the U.S. and British Amateurs and the U.S. and British Opens in the same year. Since Jones is an amateur, however, the financial windfall belongs to professional Bobby Cruickshank

Bobby Cruickshank

Robert Allan Cruickshank was a prominent Scottish professional golfer on the PGA of America circuit from the early 1920s to the mid-1930s. He was born in Grantown-on-Spey, Scotland.-Career:...

, who bets on Jones to complete the Slam, at 120-1 odds, and pockets $60,000. Jones, perhaps satisfied that he has achieved all he can in the game, retires from competition aged 28 to practice law full-time (and to found a new club that would become known as Augusta National

Augusta National Golf Club

Augusta National Golf Club, located in Augusta, Georgia, is a famous men's golf club. Founded by Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts and designed by Alister MacKenzie on the site of a former indigo plantation, the club opened for play in January 1933. Since 1934, it has played host to the annual...

).

The Minehead Club makes Captaincy elective. They had been the last club to award the Captaincy to the winner of the annual competition.

The Duke of York (later King George VI

George VI of the United Kingdom

George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...

) is elected Captain of the R & A.

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club

opens its modern course on Long Island, New York.

Bob Harlow is hired as manager of the PGA's Tournament Bureau, and he first proposes the idea of expanding "The Circuit," as the Tour is then known, from a series of winter events leading up to the season ending North and South Open

North and South Open

The North and South Open was one of the most prestigious golf tournaments in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century. It was played at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina, long the largest golf resort in the world, which also staged a series of other tournaments with the "North...

in spring, into a year-round Tour.

1931

1931 in sports

-Alpine skiing:FIS Alpine World Ski ChampionshipsInaugural FIS Alpine World Ski Championships are held at Mürren, Switzerland. The events are a downhill and a slalom race in both the men's and women's categories...

Billy Burke defeats George Von Elm in a 72-hole playoff at Inverness

Inverness Club

Inverness Club is a country club in Toledo, Ohio that is famous for its golf course . The golf course is so well known since it has hosted four U.S. Opens, two U.S. Senior Opens, two PGA Championships, and a U.S. Amateur...

to win the 1931 U.S. Open, in the longest playoff ever played. They were tied at 292 after regulation play, and both scored 149 in the first 36-hole playoff. Burke is the first golfer to win a major championship using steel-shafted golf clubs.

The USGA increases the minimum size of the golf ball from 1.62 inches to 1.68 inches, and decreases the maximum weight from 1.62 ounces to 1.55. The R & A does not follow suit. The lighter, larger "balloon ball" is universally despised and eventually the USGA raises the weight back to 1.62 ounces.

1932

1932 in sports

-Alpine skiing:FIS Alpine World Ski Championships2nd FIS Alpine World Ski Championships are held at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. The events are a downhill, a slalom and a combined race in both the men's and women's categories...

The first Curtis Cup

Curtis Cup

The Curtis Cup is the best known team trophy for women amateur golfers, awarded in the biennial Curtis Cup Match . It is co-organised by the United States Golf Association and the Ladies Golf Union and is contested by teams representing the United States and "Great Britain and Ireland"...

Match is held at Wentworth

Wentworth Club

Wentworth Club is a privately owned golf club and health resort in Virginia Water, Surrey on the south western fringes of London, not far from Windsor Castle. The club was founded in 1926.-History:...

in England.

The concave-faced wedge is banned.

Gene Sarazen

Gene Sarazen

Gene Sarazen was an American professional golfer, one of the world's top players in the 1920s and 1930s. He is one of five golfers to win all the current major championships in his career, the Career Grand Slam:U.S...

is credited with the introduction of the sand-wedge. Sarazen wins both the British and U.S. Open titles in 1932, becoming only the second man (after Bobby Jones) to achieve the feat.

Walter Hagen

Walter Hagen

wins a fifth Western Open

Western Open

. At the time, and until the 1950s, the Western Open was considered among the most important tournaments, behind only the National Opens and the PGA Championship (of which Hagen won eleven in total) in status.

1933

1933 in sports

-Alpine skiing:Events* Taft Slalom, the first racing trail in North America, is cut on Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire-American football:NFL championship...

The Prince of Wales

Edward VIII of the United Kingdom

reaches the final of the Parliamentary Handicap Tournament.

Augusta National Golf Club

Augusta National Golf Club

, designed by Alister MacKenzie with advice from Bobby Jones, opens for play.

Craig Wood

Craig Wood (golfer)

Craig Ralph Wood was an American professional golfer in the 1930s and 1940s, the winner of 21 PGA Tour titles including two major championships and a member of three Ryder Cup teams ....

hits a 430 yard (393 m) drive at the Old Course's fifth hole in the British Open; this is still the longest drive in a major championship. Wood loses a playoff for the championship to Denny Shute

Denny Shute

Herman Densmore "Denny" Shute was an American golfer who won three major championships in the 1930s.Shute was born in Cleveland, Ohio. His father was born in England. He attended Western Reserve University , and was a member of Phi Gamma Delta. He was married on March 20, 1930 to Hettie Marie Potts...

. Gene Sarazen

Gene Sarazen

finishes third, and later in the year wins the PGA Championship.

Hershey Chocolate Company, in sponsoring the Hershey Open, becomes the first corporate title sponsor of a professional tournament.

The Golf Club Managers' Association

Golf Club Managers' Association

The Golf Club Managers' Association, or GCMA is a UK professional association for secretaries, managers, or owners of golf courses. The organization has been headquartered in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, since 1999.The association was formed in 1933. Its core activities include networking and...

is formed in the UK (originally called the Association of Golf Club Secretaries). Two years later it launches Course and Club House magazine (now called Golf Club Management), the third oldest golfing magazine in the world that is still running.

1934

1934 in sports

-American football:NFL championship* New York Giants 30–13 Chicago Bears in the NFL championship gameCollege championship* College football national championship – Minnesota Golden Gophers-Association football:International...

The first Masters

The Masters Tournament

The Masters Tournament, also known as The Masters , is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, it is the first of the majors to be played each year...

is played. Horton Smith

Horton Smith

Horton Smith was an American professional golfer, who is best known as the first man to win the Masters Tournament.- Tournament career :...

is the first champion. In this inaugural event, the present-day back and front nines were reversed.

Olin Dutra wins the U.S. Open by a shot from Gene Sarazen

Gene Sarazen

.

Henry Cotton wins his first British Open, at Royal St. George's, and shoots a 65 in his second round, a feat that was commemorated by the "Dunlop 65" golf ball. Sid Brews

Sid Brews

Sydney F. "Sid" Brews was a prominent South African professional golfer.Brews was born in Blackheath, London, England. He turned pro in 1914. He who won the South African Open title a total of eight times between 1925 and 1952, when he became the tournament's oldest-ever champion aged 53. He also...

, winner of the South African, French

Open de France

The Open de France is a European Tour golf tournament. Inaugurated in 1906 it is the oldest national open in Continental Europe and has been part of the European Tour's schedule since the tour's inception in 1972....

and Dutch

KLM Open

The KLM Open is an annual golf tournament played in The Netherlands, and has been part of the European Tour's schedule since the Tour was inaugurated in 1972. Founded in 1912, the tournament was originally known as the Dutch Open, before a variety of sponsors resulted in numerous name changes over...

Opens in 1934, enjoys his best finish at a British Open, in second place.

The official U.S. PGA Tour

PGA Tour

The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...

is created, built around events like the major championships, Western Open and Los Angeles Opens which pre-dated it. Paul Runyan

Paul Runyan

Paul Scott Runyan was an American professional golfer. He was among the world's best players in the mid-1930s, won two PGA Championships, and is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Runyan was also a golf instructor....

is the first official Money List leader.

1935

1935 in sports

-American football:* Detroit Lions defeat 26–7 New York Giants for the NFL championship* SMU Mustangs national college football champions* First Heisman Trophy presented to Jay Berwanger of the University of Chicago...

Glenna Collett Vare wins the U.S. Women's Amateur a record sixth time.

Pinehurst #2 is completed by Donald Ross, generally described as his masterpiece.

Gene Sarazen

Gene Sarazen

double-eagles the par-5 15th hole to catch the leaders at The Masters. His "Shot Heard Round the World" propels him to victory, and due to the coverage of his feat, propels both the game of golf and Augusta National to new heights of popularity.

1936

1936 in sports

-American football:* Minnesota Golden Gophers are the National college football champions* Green Bay Packers defeated Boston Redskins 21–6 for the NFL championship...

Johnny Fischer becomes the last golfer to win a major championship (the U.S. Amateur) with hickory-shafted clubs.

Harry Cooper

Harry Cooper (golfer)

Harry E. Cooper was a prominent PGA Tour golfer of the 1920s and 1930s. After he retired from competitive golf, he became a well-regarded instructor, into his 90s....

finishes second at both the Masters and the U.S. Open, where he breaks the all-time tournament record only for Tony Manero

Tony Manero

Anthony T. Manero was an American golfer. He won eight times on the PGA Tour including one major championship, the 1936 U.S. Open. He played on the 1937 Ryder Cup team. He was born in New York, New York and died in Greenwich, Connecticut. Manero was originally spelled Mainiero...

to better it. Cooper would finish in the top four of major championships eleven times in his career without winning one.

1937

1937 in sports

-American football:* First Cotton Bowl Classic is played in Dallas.* Washington Redskins win the NFL title in their first year at Washington after moving from Boston...

The Bing Crosby

Bing Crosby

Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....

Pro-Am is inaugurated in San Diego. A few years later it moves to the Monterey Peninsula, where it remains to this day.

Henry Cotton wins his second British Open at Carnoustie

Carnoustie Golf Links

The Carnoustie Golf Links are in Carnoustie, Angus, Scotland. Its historic championship golf course is one of the venues in the Open Championship rotation.-History:...

, from a field that includes the entire U.S. Ryder Cup side, including Snead, Nelson, Hagen, Sarazen and Guldahl.

1938

1938 in sports

-American football:* New York Giants 23–17 Green Bay Packers for the NFL title.* First High School Oil Bowl is played.-Association football:World Cup* 1938 World Cup held in France – Italy retain their title, beating Hungary 4-2 in the final....

The British amateurs score their first victory over the United States in the Walker Cup

Walker Cup

The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested biennially in odd numbered years between teams comprising the leading amateur golfers of the United States and Great Britain and Ireland...

Match at the Old Course.

Ralph Guldahl

Ralph Guldahl

Ralph J. Guldahl was an American professional golfer who was one of the top players in the sport for three years in the late 1930s.-Early life until 1939:Guldahl was born in Dallas, Texas...

retains his U.S. Open crown, becoming only the fourth man to win back-to-back titles.

The Palm Beach Invitational becomes the first tournament to make a contribution to charity-$10,000.

The 14-club rule is instituted by the USGA.

The USGA also begins a two-year trial of the first major modification to the stymie

Stymie

A stymie refers to an archaic rule in the game of golf.In singles match play when one player's ball blocked the path of another player's ball on the green, but were not within six inches of each other, the obstructing player's ball was not lifted....

. An obstructing ball within 6 inches (15.2 cm) of the hole could be marked and moved regardless of the distance between the balls. The USGA made this rule permanent in 1941, but the R&A never made this change.

1939

1939 in sports

1939 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.Note — many sporting events did not take place because of World War II-American football:NFL championship...

Byron Nelson

John Byron Nelson, Jr. was an American PGA Tour golfer between 1935 and 1946.Nelson and two other well known golfers of the time, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead, were born within seven months of each other in 1912...

wins the U.S. Open after a 3-man playoff aainst Craig Wood

Craig Wood (golfer)

Craig Ralph Wood was an American professional golfer in the 1930s and 1940s, the winner of 21 PGA Tour titles including two major championships and a member of three Ryder Cup teams ....

and Denny Shute

Denny Shute

. Sam Snead

Sam Snead

Samuel Jackson Snead was an American professional golfer who was one of the top players in the world for most of four decades. Snead won a record 82 PGA Tour events including seven majors. He failed to win a U.S...

, needing a 5 at the last hole to win the championship, takes 8, and misses even making the playoff. The U.S. Open would remain the only major championship Snead never won.

1940–1945

1940

1940 in sports

1940 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.Note — many sporting events did not take place because of World War II-American football:NFL championship* Chicago Bears 73–0 Washington Redskins in the NFL championship game...

The British Open and Amateur are discontinued for the duration of the Second World War

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

1942

1942 in sports

1942 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.Note — many sporting events did not take place because of World War II-American football:...

The U.S. Open is discontinued for the duration of the war. A world-wide shortage of rubber, a vital military supply, creates a shortage and huge price increase in golf balls. Sam Snead

Sam Snead

manages to complete an entire four-day tournament playing one ball, but the professional circuit is severely curtailed.

The U.S. government halts the manufacture of golf equipment for the duration of the war.

1943

1943 in sports

1943 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.Note — many sporting events did not take place because of World War II-American football:* Chicago Bears win 41-26 over Washington Redskins in the NFL championship game in Chicago...

The PGA Championship is cancelled for the year, and The Masters is discontinued for the duration of the war.

1944

1944 in sports

1944 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.Note — many sporting events did not take place because of World War II-American football:* Green Bay Packers defeats 14-7 New York Giants in New York City for the NFL title...

The PGA expands its tour to 22 events despite the absence of many of its star players due to military service.

1945

1945 in sports

1945 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.Note — many sporting events did not take place because of World War II-American football:...

Byron Nelson

wins 18 tournaments in a calendar year to set an all-time PGA Tour record-including a record 11 in a row and a record 19 consecutive rounds under 70. His total prize earnings during his 11-win streak, $30,000, is less than last place money for the PGA Tour Championship by 1992.

The Tam O'Shanter Open offers a then-record purse of $60,000.

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