Chapter One -- Prologue: Setting the Road to the Future

Golfers assessing the state of the game in the 1998 - particularly those living in Southern California - are often surprised to learn that the history of golf in this region stretches back only a century. They're even more astonished to discover that golf history in the United States is only a decade older than that.

Historians differ on exactly when golf was introduced to the North American continent. There are sporadic references to the game, including one that indicates a golf club was founded in Charleston, S.C., in 1786, but a country with only sparse population had little time for recreational pursuits.

It wasn't until the great immigration wave of the second half of the 19th century that the game began to be firmly established in the United States. The U.S. population, which stood at 5.3 million in 1800 (1/6 of Southern California today) had jumped nearly five-fold, to 23.2 million in 1850. That figure more than doubled again to 76.2 million people by the beginning of the 20th century.

Most of those immigrants came from Europe, including large numbers from England, Scotland and Ireland. They brought with them not only their hopes, dreams and dedication, but also their games -- including golf -- and the game took hold. The first continent's first golf club -- Royal Montreal Golf Club (which still exists today as one of Canada's premiere layouts) -- was founded in 1873.

During the next decade, clubs also sprung up in Vermont, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, but the credit for the longest-running U.S. club belongs to St. Andrew's Golf Club in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., a wealthy vacation spot along the Hudson River about 30 miles north of New York City.

One established, the game of golf proved to be as hearty as kikuyugrass (which wasn't introduced into this country until the 1920s). Clubs were established throughout the northeastern U.S., each vying to establish their importance, often by holding championships. By the 1890s, disputes were brewing about a "national amateur champion" and things came to a head in 1894 when St. Andrew's and Newport (Rhode Island) GC each staged an invitational tournament and proclaimed the winner to be the national champion.

That dispute led to the founding of the United States Golf Association on Dec. 22, 1894, when five clubs -- St. Andrew's, Newport, Shinnecock GC (Long Island, NY), The Country Club in Brookline, MA, and Chicago GC -- met in New York City. The USGA's charter called for it to conduct national championships (men's and women's amateur and a U.S. Open), oversee to the administration and codification of The Rules of Golf and The Rules of Amateur Status.

Chapter Two -- First Stirrings

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