Chapter Two -- First Stirrings

In concert with the rest of the nation, California was growing as well, from a population of 92,597 in 1850 to 1,311,564 by the turn of the century. One of the magic words in California's growth was railroads, which brought not only new settlers to the state but, perhaps equally important, vacationers. Transportation, real estate and vacationers fueled the growth of golf in Southern California as the 19th century was coming to a close, a triumvirate that hasn't changed in 100 years.

The great railroad war began in 1876 when the Southern Pacific line between San Francisco and Los Angeles was finished. Nine years later, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe circumvented SP's attempts to maintain a California monopoly and completed its southern U.S. route through San Bernardino and Pasadena to Los Angeles. That set off a fare war between SP and Santa Fe; tickets from the East Coast, which had cost $125 fell to as low as $95 and those low prices brought thousands of new residents and vacationers to the region -- specifically, to what we now the Inland Empire, to Pasadena and to the beach resorts of San Diego and Santa Barbara.

There are sketchy reports of golf courses in various Southern California locales from Santa Barbara to Riverside (almost all of them resort areas or areas where colonies of English settlers grew up), but these were probably only a few holes each and cannot really qualify as courses. As Ralph W. Miller noted in his "History of Golf in Southern California" (which was printed in the first issue of FORE Magazine), there's a good reason no formal history of these early efforts is recorded. The idea wrote Miller, "of several persons hitting golf balls around a pasture would have no more interest than would a quiet game of croquet on the front lawn." That would shortly change.

Chapter Three - The Founders

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Paul Hunter

In the 99-year history of the SCGA Amateur Championship, only one has won five titles: Dr. Paul Hunter.

But Hunter's success is more than just numbers. He was the first great California-produced golfer who also won the California Amateur Championship in 1920 and 1921 and played on the 1921 United States team that defeated Great Britain in an international match held at Holylake in England. The following year, those matches were named the Walker Cup.

Born in Chicago, Hunter moved to Pasadena in 1901 when he was 12. He served in the Army Medical Corps during World War I and later practiced medicine in Pasadena and Carmel.

At age 18, Hunter won his first SCGA Amateur title at The Los Angeles Country Club, the last tournament to be played on that club's Pico-Heights course. He remains the youngest player ever to win the SCGA Amateur and a year later successfully defended his championship on his home course.

In 1921, Hunter defeated his cousin, Robert, 2 & 1, to capture his third SCGA Amateur and followed that up with victories in 1924 (where he defeated British Walker Cup player Rex Causey in the finals) and 1926.

Hunter's total of seven SCGA related titles (including his two state titles) is exceeded by only one player in the association's 99-year history: Mark Johnson.