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Canadian Golf History
Author Robert Collette
It
should come as no surprise to find that the game of golf in Canada
owes its establishment to the massive immigration of Scots during
the 19th Century. The game had been played in Scotland for well over
300 years by the time the word "golf" is first found in print in
Canada. That was 1826, when the Montreal Herald ran a notice "To
Scotsmen A few true sons of Scotia, eager to perpetuate the
remembrance of her Customs have fixed upon the 25th December and the
1st January, for going to the Priests' Farm, to PLAY AT GOLF. Such
of their Countrymen as choose to join them, will meet them before
TEN O'Clock, A.M., at D. M'Arthur's INN, Hay-Market. Steps have been
taken to have CLUBS provided."
Unfortunately, there is no record following up this invitation, so
we may never know how many, if any, took up the offer. Likewise,
there are many theories that golf was played earlier than 1826, but
no proof has been found as unequivocal as this invitation. The next
time golf made it into print was 1854, when a young man from a
merchant vessel came ashore at Quebec to practice his swing on the
Plains of Abraham. That it was reported certainly indicates this was
still unusual behaviour. While there may have been avid closet
golfers throughout the young dominion, it undoubtedly was an
uncommon occurrence.
Various other reports throughout Canada during the next two decades
substantiate that the game itself had taken some hold. Still, there
was no formal organization of the golf until Alexander Dennistoun
relocated from Peterborough, Ont. to Montreal.
It was in Montreal, in the fall of 1873, that this relocated Scot
gathered seven of his fellow expatriates and local businessmen to
establish the first club in North America, the (Royal) Montreal Golf
Club. This was quickly followed by the creation of a club in Quebec
City, which led to the first inter club matches to be played on this
continent.
The Scottish invasion was just beginning in the 1870s and 1880s.
Scottish bankers, doctors and engineers, among others, poured into
the newly formed country. Throughout these decades several more
clubs were formed, some to survive to this day, others to struggle
and fail before golf was to flourish in the next decade. With the
formation of several clubs in Ontario (at Toronto, Brantford,
Kingston and Niagara) the first inter provincial matches were be
held beginning in 1882 between Quebec and Ontario. In 1888, the
first club was founded in the United States, at St. Andrews in
Yonkers, New York.
But the 1890s saw a tremendous boom in the game. Clubs began to
appear in every province and territory. This was due mainly to the
influx in immigration during this period, however, there were
several other contributing factors. The change from a rural society
to urban centres began to take place in the 1890s. Urban living
increased the desire for leisure activities that would take one
outdoors. A growing middle class of clerks and office workers, along
with a shortened work week, also made their appearance in these
years. Transportation improved, the hardship of long distance travel
was eased by the completion of the Canadian National Railways, while
local commutes were improved through the introduction of many urban
trains and trolley systems.
Strangely enough, though, it may have been the invention of the
bicycle that played the biggest role in establishing golf. It was
during this decade that the restrictions of the Victorian era woman
began to fall away. The bicycle provided middle-class women with an
easy form of unaccompanied transport. A tremendous number of women
entered the sport in the 1890s. There was a movement toward health
and exercise, which no doubt aided and abetted the efforts of women
taking up the game. While we can certainly still find references of
men and women alike who abhorred this change, there are at least an
equal number who supported it.
The first women's clubs were established in 1891 at Royal Montreal,
Quebec and Toronto. They were joined in droves. It is likely that
the number of women members did two things for the game: establish
large enough memberships to sustain the clubs, especially 20 years
hence when WWI would devastate the male membership; and also turn
golf clubs into family-oriented social gathering places.
Regardless of the reasons for the boom, the 1890s saw tremendous
growth in the game around the globe. The next logical step was the
founding of associations to organize championships. In response to
the formation of an American golf association, A.J. Simpson of
(Royal) Ottawa Golf Club invited Canadian clubs to gather at
Ottawa-to play a national championship and discuss the formation of
a Canadian golf association.
The Governor General of Canada, Lord Aberdeen, attended that first
meeting, June 6, 1895, where he presented a trophy for play at the
national championship. T.M. Harley won that trophy at the first
championship. The Aberdeen Cup is not the trophy played for today,
however. Lord Aberdeen attached a proviso to the trophy when he
donated it. If anyone should win the championship three years in
succession, it would become that player's to keep. Early Canadian
golf sensation George S. Lyon took the trophy home in 1907 by doing
just that. Earl Grey, then Governor General, presented a new trophy
for play in 1908, with no such proviso. It is still played for today.
That meeting in Ottawa created the basis for a golf organization.
The first official meeting was held that fall during the
interprovincial meet. Ten clubs committed to the Association, to
which Queen Victoria gave the Royal designation. The founding clubs
were: Royal Montreal, Toronto, Quebec, London, Kingston, Winnipeg,
Victoria, Brantford, Hamilton and Niagara. As the game continued to
grow around the country, other events were added to the Royal
Canadian Golf Association's mandate, including the Canadian Ladies'
Amateur-first played in 1901 followed by the Open Championship in
1904.
For more
Canadian golf history, visit the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame at >www.cghf.org
or at Glen Abbey Golf Club, 1333 Dorval Drive, Oakville, Ontario.
Another comprehensive source is James Barclay's Golf in Canada: A
History, published by McClelland & Stewart, 1992. |
