The Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA), branded as Golf Canada, is the governing body of golf in Canada.
Beginnings
It was founded as the Canadian Golf Association on June 6, 1895, at the Royal Ottawa Golf Club. The 'Royal' prefix was granted in June 1896 by Queen Victoria through the Governor General of Canada at that time, Lord Aberdeen, who was a patron of the association.
The first real international boom in golf happened during the 1890s. In response to this, the first golfing associations were formed – the Golfing Union of Ireland in 1891 and the Ladies' Golf Union in 1893. The organization of golf in Britain itself was directed to The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews as the historic seat of golf. In 1894, two attempts to establish a national championship in the United States were made, neither of which became recognized as the national championship. Later in 1894, representatives from five prominent U.S. clubs gathered to form the United States Golf Association.
Founding, stages Canadian Amateur
The first meeting to discuss the formation of a Canadian Golf Association was held on June 6, 1895, at the Royal Ottawa Golf Club. The secretary of the club, Alex Simpson, was a strong proponent of organizing a national organization to conduct national championships. In 1895, he invited clubs from across Canada to attend "the first national golf championship" and to discuss the organization of an association with the mandate of conducting such events. It was agreed that such an association should be formed and would hold its first Annual General Meeting on September 27, at the time of the Interprovincial Matches between Ontario and Quebec.
The constitution drawn up for the purpose stated the objectives of the organization as: "promote interest in the game of golf; the protection of the mutual interests of its members; establish and enforce uniformity in the rules of game by creating a representative authority,; its Executive Committee to be a court of reference as a final authority in matters of controversy; to establish a uniform system of handicapping; to decide on what links the Amateur and Open Championship shall be played."
The constitution was signed by the following ten clubs from across Canada: Royal Montreal Golf Club Royal Quebec Golf Club Royal Ottawa Golf Club Kingston Golf Club Toronto Golf Club Rosedale Golf Club Hamilton Golf and Country Club London Golf Club Winnipeg Golf Club Victoria Golf Club
The first officers of the organization were:
The prefix 'Royal' was granted in June 1896 by Queen Victoria. There were two categories of membership in the RCGA when it was formed – 'Allied', which meant it was a regularly constituted golf club in Canada, and 'Associate', which was also to have a golf course, clubhouse and at least 25 members.
Membership in the RCGA was:
Canadian Open
The Canadian Amateur Championship was to continue annually as it had operated in 1895, at match play, with the prize the Aberdeen Cup, donated by the Governor-General. In 1898, the RCGA, in conjunction with the USGA, conducted the first International Golf Matches at the Toronto Golf Club. In 1901, the organization introduced the Canadian Ladies' Amateur Championship, held at Royal Montreal Golf Club. Three years later, the need for an Open championship for both amateur and professional golfers was determined, with sufficient professional golfers in Canada, and the first Canadian Open Golf Championship was held over the Royal Montreal Golf Club in 1904.
Organizational details
The RCGA formed its first standing committee for the rules of golf in 1916, although it had printed its first edition of the rules in 1914.
In 1919, the first staff person, B.L. Anderson, was hired. He had served as volunteer secretary during World War I, and was hired for part-time work for the association as the Secretary-Treasurer. Anderson stayed with the RCGA as Secretary until retirement in 1945. He became known as the face of the RCGA, along with his own secretary, Marion Doherty.
Funding continued as a fee per club until 1948, when the RCGA instituted the dollar a year plan. The concept was that each golf club would remit $1.00 for each male member (after having collected from the member in their annual dues). $0.50 was to go to the RCGA and the same amount would be remitted to the appropriated provincial association. This revolutionized the associations which had suffered for decades from chronic lack of funding.