← Back to the timeline1894–95
American golf gets its governing body
The USGA forms, then holds its first championships.
Five clubs founded the United States Golf Association in December 1894. In 1895 it conducted the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Open and U.S. Women's Amateur, establishing championships that still define the sport.
Disputes over national amateur championships led five American clubs to form the USGA in December 1894. Their shared organization could set championship conditions and create a recognized national structure.
The following year brought the association's first U.S. Amateur, U.S. Open and U.S. Women's Amateur. Those events turned a growing network of clubs into an enduring competitive institution.