History of Golf in Canada

No. of Players (Rank): 2,200,000 (3)

No of Courses (Rank): 1,796 (2)

There is evidence of golf arriving in Canada as early as 1824, but the game began to flourish in Canada after the organization of Royal Montreal in 1873, only a few years after the Confederation and well before the game took root in the United States.  A club was subsequently founded in Quebec in 1875 by a daughter of Old Tom Morris.  The first inter-club match in the Americas was staged between the clubs in 1876, the oldest trio of North American courses was complete.  One of the great curiosities of the development of the modern game is that no Canadian golfers emerged early on to further the popularity of the game in the manner of Hagen, Jones, et al in the United States.  So, although the Canadian Open has been played continuously throughout this century as a cornerstone of the PGA TOUR, Canadian golf has continued to be quite popular among the Canadians but very much a stepchild of the American game in terms of mass appeal and international success.

            Nevertheless, Canada has produced some excellent golfers and from time to time golfers such as George Knudson, Dave Barr and Mike Weir have been prominent on the PGA TOUR.  The World Cup originated at Montreal in 1953 as the Canada Cup and was known as such until 1966.  The Canadians themselves have won the up three times (in 1968, 1980, and 1985), while Canadians have taken the individual competitions five times (Stan Leonard in 1954 and 1959, George Knudson in 1966, Al Balding in 1968, and Dave Barr in 1983).  Canada also won the Eisenhower Trophy (World Amateur Team Championship) in 1986 at Caracas.

            In recent years a Canadian Tour has sprung up involving a dozen or so tournaments, but the Canadian Open is still considered an official PGA TOUR event and the Canadian circuit is only occasionally able to attract the top players.

            Canada pulled a major upset in 1994 in winning the Alfred Dunhill Cup with a 2-1 victory over the United States in the final.  The victory was Canada’s most significant to date in proving the quality of Canadian golf.

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