THE FORMATIVE YEARS CELEBRATING THE MGA'S 125TH ANNIVERSARY

As part of celebrating the MGA's 125th anniversary in 2022, The Met Golfer will feature a four-part series that dives into the MGA's rich history and peers toward the future. To start, let's go back to when it all began and learn more about the MGA's formative years.

March 31, 1897

Representatives from 26 golf clubs gathered at Delmonico's in lower Manhattan at the suggestion of the Green Committee of The Saint Andrew's Golf Club.

As a result, a committee of five men (Daniel Chauncey (pictured), Dyker Meadow; Oliver W. Byrd, Meadow Brook; Grenville Kane, Tuxedo; Richard H. Williams, Morris County; T. Hope Simpson, Staten Island Cricket) was established to formulate the exact role of the proposed organization.

The MGA's Founding Fathers were part of the inaugural class inducted into the MGA's Hall of Merit in 2019.

April 14, 1897

Representatives reconvened and the MGA's original charter was officially signed on April 14, 1897, with the original 26 clubs coming together to "promote the best interests and the true spirit of the game of golf."

H.B. Hollins, first president of the Metropolitan Golf Association.

The immediate task for the MGA was to schedule “open” competitions at clubs, ensuring that multiple competitions were not scheduled for the same week.

However, the MGA took seriously its role to further the game and began conducting its own championships, with H.M. Harriman winning the inaugural Metropolitan Championship (today's Met Amateur), held April 12-15, 1899.

September 14-16, 1905 - the inaugural Met Open Championship at Fox Hills Golf Club on Staten Island. Photos (clockwise, starting left): Willie Anderson (left) and Alex Smith tied with a score of 300 over 72 holes to force an 18-hole playoff eventually won by Smith (74-76). Smith tees off during the championship. Jerome D. Travers (310, low amateur) teeing off in the championship.

1905

Beyond conducting championships, the MGA aimed to bring clarity to handicapping. After using a system based on comparison to U.S. Amateur champion Findlay Douglas, the MGA in 1905 began to use a system developed by Leighton Calkins. Calkins, who served as the chair of the MGA's Handicap Committee, worked on his system at his home club, Plainfield. The USGA accepted his system in 1911 and many of Calkins' principles remain in today's World Handicap System.

Calkins was inducted into the MGA's Hall of Merit as part of the Class of 2021.

1912

Calkins also played an instrumental role in establishing the Met Junior Championship, which lives on today as oldest junior championship in the nation. Calkins formalized the plans for the event, which took place at Plainfield Country Club each of its first three years.

Inaugural Met Junior champion Stuart Connelly.

Appreciate

Credits:

USGA Museum/Digital Archives MGA Archives