From the Archives

The Royal Ottawa Golf Club:

Founded in the spring of 1891, The Royal Ottawa Golf Club was established by a group of businessmen and professionals who decided they should organize themselves “for promotion of this healthy and satisfying game.” Sir Edgar Dewdney was elected by the members to become the first president of the club. Dewdney was a minister in Sir John A. Macdonald’s government. He became the Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia after serving his one-year term as president of The Royal Ottawa Golf Club. In June of 1895, Tom Harley of Kingston won the first Canadian Amateur Championship. He was awarded the silver challenge cup by the Governor General, Lord Aberdeen. The Royal Ottawa Golf Club will host the 2016 Canadian Men’s Amateur for the first time since 1991.

The Toronto Golf Club:

The Toronto Golf Club, established in 1876, is one of the oldest clubs in North America. James Lamond Smith was the founder of the Club and its first Captain. Smith was a native of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, who immigrated to Canada in 1840 and died in 1883. He was succeeded as Captain in 1880 by R.H. Bethune, who became the mainstay of the Club. When the Club was furnished in 1888, the entrance fee was $5.00 and only allowed 35 members. When the course expanded from nine holes to eighteen holes, membership went to the first 160 people and filled up rapidly, causing their first waiting list to appear. The membership included a number of first-class golf players. Among them was Andy Smith, who was one of the most noted players of his day in North America. They held their first Canadian Amateur Championship in 1898 where Canadian Golf Hall of Fame member George Lyon beat out G.H.F Pattison to take the title.

The Lambton Golf Club:

The Lambton Golf Club was founded in 1902 and was laid out in a settlement known at the time as Cooper’s Mill. The area was renamed the Village of Lambton to commemorate the visit of John George Lambton, Earl of Durham and Canada’s first Governor General. In 1904, the Ladies Golf Course, known today as the Valley Course, opened and was the first of its kind. The Lambton Golf Club has held the Canadian Amateur tournament four times; the first was in 1907 where George Lyon won his third straight championship. They have also hosted four Canadian Opens, three CPGA Championships and one Four Nations Teams Championships.

Hamilton Golf and Country Club:

The Hamilton Golf and Country Club was founded in October of 1894 and held its first match on a 12-hole course that was located on the corner of Barton and Ottawa Street. In 1914, famous course designer Harry Colt was brought in to design more holes when the Club purchased the 200 acre Grange farm in Ancaster from Mrs. Margaret Bevan for $40,000. Eight years later, Hamilton Golf and Country Club held their first Canadian Amateurs where C.C. Fraser won his first and only title, beating out fellow Canadian Norman Scott.

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All photos courtesy of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum.