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. |
