1892
Vancouver Golf Club (Jericho) is formed, becoming the first organized golf club west of the Mississippi River.

1893
On Nov. 7, Harvey Combe leads the group that forms Victoria Golf Club.

1894
The United States Golf Association is founded Dec. 22 in New York City. Alexander Baillie is instrumental in forming Tacoma Golf Club, the first American golf club west of the Mississippi River.

1895
Matches between Tacoma and Victoria Golf Clubs begin April 5. Tacoma wins the match on its home course. The men's contest is North America's first international golf competition. Women from the two clubs compete later in December for the American Cousins Cup, the world's first international women's competition. The Victoria team wins on its home links.

On Sept. 27, the Canadian Golf Association is created. The following July, Queen Victoria grants permission for the association to use the prefix "Royal."

1896
On April 7, Percy H. Blyth, S. Graham Bowley and H.E Judge establish Waverley Country Club in Portland. A group of Seattle businessmen form the Country Club of Seattle, a six-hole layout on Bainbridge Island's Restoration Point.

1897
The Golf Association of Philadelphia and the Metropolitan Golf Association (Greater New York City) are founded.

1898
In June, under the guidance of lawyer Henry Hoyt, a 40-acre tract is purchased near Liberty Park, and Spokane Country Club is soon established.

1899
On Feb. 4, 1899, the Tacoma Daily Ledger reports the "Pacific Coast Golf Association" is formed at a meeting in Tacoma. Attending are representatives of Spokane Country Club, Tacoma Golf Club and Victoria Golf Club, along with proxies from Waverley Country Club and Walla Walla Country Club. C.B. Stahlschmidt of Victoria is elected president and Stuart Rice of Tacoma is elected Secretary.

The first championship of the fledgling Association is contested April 17-22 at Tacoma Golf Club. Players from Seattle Golf Club, whose new course is under construction at Laurelhurst, enter the event and join the Association as a founding member. The organization's name is changed to the Pacific Northwest Golf Association, abbreviated as "PNWGA." The host club sweeps the two titles as Charles H. Malott and Mrs. Melbourne Bailey become the first-ever PNGA champions.

Later in 1899, the Southern California, Western Pennsylvania and Western (Chicago) golf associations are formed.

1905
The PNGA Championship at Waverley Country Club is billed as the Lewis & Clark Exposition Tournament and is part of the centennial celebration for the famous pioneers' Northwest expedition. The tournament is a watershed event for the PNGA as it attracts more than 100 players from along the Pacific Coast, including five professionals who inaugurate the Pacific Northwest Open.

1908
America's first golfing President, William H. Taft, visits the Seattle Golf Club at Laurelhurst. A year later he returns to the Northwest, playing at Hayden Lake Country Club and again at Seattle.

1911
The Northwest's first mechanized golf course mower is used at Shaughnessy Heights Golf Club in Vancouver, B.C.

1913
Seattle's A.S. Kerry organizes a Northwest exhibition tour featuring the legendary British champions, Harry Vardon and Ted Ray. Their stops in Portland, Victoria, Vancouver, B.C., Seattle and Tacoma attract large crowds. The media attention spurs region-wide interest in golf.

1915
On May 12, the Seattle Parks Board opens Jefferson Park Golf Course, the Northwest's first municipal golf facility.

1916
The PGA of America is formed. Charles H. Davis Jr. is elected PNGA President and spearheads a four-man team competition between clubs at the PNGA Men's Amateur. The silver Davis Cup is retired in 1929 after Waverley wins it for a fourth time. Portland Golf Club's Rudie Wilhelm becomes the first amateur to win the Pacific Northwest Open. Chicago amateur Chick Evans becomes the first man to win the U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur in the same year.

1917
The USGA and PGA suspend their championships because of World War I, but PNGA championships continue.

1921
The Washington State Women's Golf Association (for private clubs) is created.

1922
Under the guidance of PNGA Director A.S. Kerry, the PNGA significantly rewrites its constitution and bylaws.

The British Columbia Golf Association is founded with the mandate to conduct the B.C. Men's Amateur Championship.

The first Washington State (Men's) Amateur is played and the Washington State Golf Association is proposed.

The Pacific Northwest Section of the PGA of America is founded.

The U.S. and Great Britain play the first Walker Cup Matches at National Golf Links on Long Island, N.Y. The USGA's amateur team wins 8-4. 1923 Portland dentist and Waverley member, Dr. Oscar F. Willing, is the first Northwest golfer ever selected to a Walker Cup team.

1924
Ed Neustadter is a key figure in organizing the Oregon Golf Association.

Representatives from Utah resign from the PNGA after Association leaders refuse to take the PNGA Championship to Salt Lake Country Club.

1925
At the urging of A.S. Kerry, the Golfers Magazine Tour brings over 200 players from the Chicago area - including the great Chick Evans - to the Northwest and western Canada for competitions against the region's finest players. Kerry helps put Northwest golf on the map as the tour brings national recognition. It also encourages the Western Golf Association and USGA to pay closer attention to the region's fine players and courses.

1926
A.S. Kerry is at it again as he bankrolls an eight-man contingent of the Northwest's best players - known as "Kerry's Raiders" - to Chicago to compete against that area's finest linksters. While in the "Windy City," Portland's Frank Dolp becomes the first Northwesterner to win the coveted Western Amateur.

1927
The Western Golf Association brings its Western Amateur to the West Coast for the first time. Seattle Golf Club plays host and Seattleite Bon Stein wins the championship.

As the popularity of the Pacific Northwest Open increases, the PNGA encourages the Pacific Northwest Section PGA to take over the event, which it does.

Victoria's Colwood Golf & Country Club is given "Royal" status, the only course in western Canada designated as such.

1929
Chandler Egan forms a partnership with golf course architect Allister MacKenzie (designer of Augusta National, Cypress Point) to renovate Pebble Beach Golf Links for the U.S. Amateur. Egan plays in the championship and reaches the semifinals, while Waverley clubmate Doc Willing advances to the finals. It's the first time a USGA championship was played on the West Coast.

1930
The onset of the Depression slows golf course construction, which lasts through World War II. Meanwhile, private memberships go wanting as new "Pay-As-You-Play" courses spring up around the continent.

Don Moe and Doc Willing are named to the Walker Cup team that travels to Great Britain. While there, Moe writes a diary of the matches and exploits of teammate Bobby Jones, who wins the British Amateur and British Open. With his victory at the U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club in Pennsylvania, Bobby Jones completes his unprecedented "Grand Slam."

1932
The first Curtis Cup Matches are played in England between women amateurs from the U.S. and Great Britain. The USGA team defeats the British 5 1/2 to 3 1/2.

The B.C. Branch of the Canadian Ladies Golf Association is started.

1933
The U.S. Amateur Public Links at Portland's Eastmoreland Golf Course is the first USGA championship played in the Northwest.

The Washington State Women's Public Links Association is formed.

1934
Bobby Jones tours the Northwest, and golf fans turn out in record numbers for "The Emperor of Golf." More than 3,000 watch him at Seattle Golf Club, 5,000 at Shaughnessy Heights and 5,000 at Portland Golf Club.

1937
The U.S. Amateur is held in the Northwest for the first time. In the final, 1933 U.S. Open champion Johnny Goodman defeats Ray Billows at the now-defunct Arthur V. Macan-designed Alderwood Country Club in Portland.

1939
Bud Ward becomes the first Northwesterner to win the U.S. Amateur with his victory at North Shore Country Club near Chicago. Ward would capture the title again two years later.

Marian (McDougall) Herron of Waverley Country Club wins her fourth consecutive PNGA Women's Amateur. She would go on to win six titles overall.

Ken Black is the first from British Columbia to win the Canadian Amateur at Mount Bruno Golf Club in Montreal.

1942
World War II leads the PNGA and USGA to suspend all of its championships.

1944
The PGA Championship is held in the Northwest for the first time at Manito Golf & Country Club. Bob Hamilton upsets Byron Nelson for the title.

1946
The PGA Championship is played at Portland Golf Club. Golf promoter Robert Hudson sponsors the event, won by Ben Hogan. A handful of golf writers gather in an empty ice cream stand after the tournament and form the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA).

The first-ever U.S. Women's Open is played at Spokane Country Club. The great Patty Berg defeats local 22-year-old Betty Jean Rucker in the semifinals en route to the title. This is the only time the event was match play.

1947
Robert Hudson rescues the Ryder Cup Matches, sponsoring the event at Portland Golf Club. Without Hudson's support the matches likely would have been canceled.

1948
The Canadian Open is conducted in the Northwest for the first time. Northwest pro Chuck Congdon wins by three strokes at Shaughnessy Heights Golf Club. Harry Givan and friends of Northwest golf writer Alex Rose form the Alex Rose Caddie Scholarship Fund, the precursor of the Evans Scholarship Program.

1949
Named in honor of Robert Hudson, the Hudson Cup Matches are inaugurated. The matches pit the region's best amateurs against the best pros in a format similar to the Walker Cup and Ryder Cup.

1950
In one of the greatest matches played in Northwest golf history, Al Mengert and Ray Weston, clubmates from Spokane Country Club, wage an epic duel in the semifinals of the PNGA Men's Amateur at Capilano Golf & Country Club in West Vancouver, B.C. Before winning in overtime on the 40th hole, Mengert fires a 10-under-par 62 to Weston's 66 in the afternoon match. Mengert wins the title the next day over Harry Givan, 3 & 2.

1952
Everett's Jack Westland defeats Spokane's Al Mengert to win the U.S. Amateur at Seattle Golf Club. At 46, Westland is the oldest U.S. Amateur champion to date.

The U.S. Women's Amateur is conducted in the Northwest for the first time at Waverley Country Club. The colorful Jackie Pung wins the title.

Grace DeMoss of Corvallis, Ore., is the first Northwest player ever named to a USGA Curtis Cup team.

1955
Pat Lesser wins the U.S. Women's Amateur, the first Northwesterner to do so.

The inaugural PNGA Junior Boys' Championship is played at Tacoma Country & Golf Club. Ted Puetz of Seattle defeats Bryan Copp of Vancouver, B.C. to become the event's first champion.

Columbia Edgewater clubmates Bruce Cudd and Dick Yost are named to the Walker Cup team, only the second time in USGA history when players from the same club are on the same team. (Bobby Jones and Watts Gunn of Atlanta Athletic Club were teammates in 1926 and 1928.)

1956
The first PNGA Junior Girls' Championship is contested at Seattle's Sand Point Country Club. A long-hitting youngster named JoAnne Gunderson wins the title. Later that summer, JoAnne wins the U.S. Girls' Junior.

1957
JoAnne Gunderson wins her first U.S. Women's Amateur. She would win the event four more times during her career.

Long-time PNGA Director Gordon Bowers rewrites the PNGA Constitution and Bylaws, which changes the mission of the Association and creates the present-day Zone structure.

1958
A PNGA Course Rating and Handicap Committee is formed to commence rating golf courses in the Northwest with "the emphasis on first rating our member clubs."

The PNGA Women's Amateur is held entirely on one course for the first time since 1929, but it is short-lived as the championship returns to the controversial two-course format the very next year.

Seattle's Anne Quast wins her first U.S. Women's Amateur at Wee Burn Country Club in Darien, Conn. She would return to that event's winner's circle two more times during her remarkable career.

1959
Bill Wright of Seattle's Jefferson Park Golf Course becomes the first African-American to win a USGA national championship with his victory in the U.S. Amateur Public Links at Wellshire Golf Course in Denver.

1960
The PNGA Board of Directors authorizes a "Caddie Scholarship Program" to be administered in cooperation with the Western Golf Association in Chicago. This is the start of the Association's long-time sponsorship of the Chick Evans Caddie Scholarship Program in the Northwest.

To increase revenues, an "Individual Contributing Member" category of membership is created. For $2 members receive a PNGA bag tag and a handicap record card.

PNGA Director Ernie Jonson of Broadmoor Golf Club houses the administrative affairs of the Association in his downtown Seattle accounting office at no cost.

The PNGA continues the tradition of paying the expenses of local qualifiers to the USGA's Junior Amateur and Girls' championships.

Seattle's Bill Tindall wins the Junior Amateur title in Kansas City.

1961
The prestigious Walker Cup Matches are played at Seattle Golf Club. The U.S. team led by Jack Nicklaus and Deane Beman demolishes its European opponent, 11-1. PNGA Director and Seattle member Erv Parent is chairman of the matches, and Everett's Jack Westland is Honorary Captain.

Anne (Quast) Sander wins her second U.S. Women's Amateur over Phyllis Preuss at Tacoma Country & Golf Club. Her 14 & 13 victory margin is a record.

The "Seattle Bomber," Harry Givan, wins the PNGA Men's Amateur at Overlake Golf & Country Club for a fifth time, tying H. Chandler Egan for most-ever wins in the storied event.

Largely under the guidance of Tournament Committee Chairman Carl Jonson, a "Tournament Procedure Schedule," effectively a start-to-finish tournament operations manual, is developed for distribution to future PNGA host clubs. For the first time all entry fees are received at the PNGA office and a confirmation of entry is mailed to contestants in advance. The Tournament Committee recommends the entry fee for the Men's and Women's Amateurs the following year be increased to $17.50.

The PNGA Evans Scholarship Program continues to grow with 14 total scholarships awarded, six in Washington and eight in Oregon. The "financial need" cutoff criteria for candidates to be eligible is a combined parental income not to exceed $8,500.

The PNGA attempts to raise its profile by establishing a Publicity Director position. Portland's Dale Johnson is the first appointee.

The PNGA expands its course rating teams to Portland, Seattle and Tacoma.

1962
Don Sutton of Capilano Golf & Country Club introduces the new PNGA logo: The Peace Arch upon which rests the flags of the U.S. and Canada encircled by "Pacific Northwest Golf Association 1899."

For the first time the PNGA pays expenses for local qualifiers to the Canadian Junior Boys' Championship.

PNGA Course Rating shirts are ordered for the first time. They are light blue in color and emblazoned on the backs are the words "Course Rating" and the PNGA logo. In the words of PNGA Handicap and Course Rating Committee Chairman George Skarich, "We hope to make quite a ceremony of course rating."

1963
After Ernie Jonson proposes a "centralized computer handicapping system," the PNGA becomes one of North America's first amateur golf associations to offer such service to member clubs. The first clubs to participate are Glendale, Broadmoor, Seattle and Everett. Cost for the service is $1.50 for contributing member clubs and $2.50 for non-contributing clubs.

For the first time, restrictions against smoking, gambling and drinking are established for the Junior Boys' Championship.

1964
After serving the PNGA over the course of five decades, Forest Watson passes away during the PNGA Spring Meeting at Portland's Riverside Golf & Country Club while giving a talk on the Evans Scholarship program.

The PNGA computer handicap system is growing rapidly. It now has 15 participating clubs and 5,035 members.

1965
The PNGA establishes the "Golf House" concept and begins to formally collect memorabilia relating to the history of the PNGA and golf in the Northwest.

The inaugural PNGA Senior Men's Amateur Championship is held at Overlake Golf & Country Club in Medina, Wash. Warren Dawson of Broadmoor Golf Club emerges as the first champion from a field of 60 players. A daily "Best-Ball" (Four-Ball) event held with the individual competition is very popular.

A PNGA Committee on Taxation is established to inform member clubs of significant changes in tax laws, especially as they pertain to rapidly increasing property taxes.

The PNGA's computer handicap system grows in popularity; 10,207 members at 23 member clubs are now participating. For the first time, a junior member can get the service.

1967
PNGA Director and Course Rating Chairman George Skarich, of Rainier Golf & Country Club, becomes the first paid Executive Secretary of the PNGA on April 24. The headquarters are moved out of Ernie Jonson's accounting offices to a nearby location in downtown Seattle.

The first Pacific Coast Amateur Championship, sponsored by the PNGA, is played at Seattle Golf Club on Aug. 10-12. The Morse Cup Team Matches are revived as part of the event. Dr. Ed Updegraff of Tucson wins the title over an outstanding field that includes Johnny Miller, Hale Irwin and Jerry Heard.

As of Jan. 1, all PNGA handicaps are converted to the new USGA Golf Handicap System.

1968
Under the direction of Seattle's Liz Culver, the Ladies' Advisory Committee composes a separate Ladies' Tournament Manual.

The first official Selection Committee Meeting for the PNGA Evans Scholarship program is held in the Northwest. The program has grown dramatically and, for the first time, expenses are exceeding income. The goal of having PNGA-sponsored chapter houses in Oregon and Washington is mentioned.

1969
The Idaho Golf Association is formed largely through the efforts of Idaho Falls' Joe Marmo.

The first PNGA Evans Scholarship fund-raiser, "Beat the Pro-Club Champion," is a huge success, raising $1,977 for the program.

Mike Davis, 22, becomes the first player from the Northwest to win the Pacific Coast Amateur, carding a 283 at Lakeside Country Club in North Hollywood, Calif.

As the 1960s come to a close, there are 17,720 Northwest golfers at 73 golf clubs receiving computer handicapping service from the PNGA.

1970
Charles H. "Charlie" Davis III is elected PNGA President. His father served as President from 1916-1917. In memory of his father, Davis donates a perpetual medalist trophy, a silver bowl, on which is inscribed the medalist at the Men's Amateur each year.

Inter-zone team matches at the Junior Boys' Championship are introduced. Winning team members will have their names inscribed on the "Jonson Inter-Zone Trophy," donated by Carl and Ernie Jonson.

The PNGA continues its tradition of deferring travel expenses for Northwest juniors who qualify for the USGA Boys' and Girls' championships. Among those receiving assistance are Peter Jacobsen, John Fought and Mary Budke.

Mike Davis successfully defends his Pacific Coast Amateur title at Marine Drive Golf Club in Vancouver, B.C. His first-round 9-under-par 63 establishes a course record. The team of Davis, Pat Welch, Rick Weihe, Jim Everham, Harry White and Dave Glenz is the first to win the Morse Cup for the PNGA.

A PNGA Merit Award is created to "recognize individuals who have contributed to the Association through their success in competition or by their efforts toward the improvement of the Association."

For the first time, clubs in Oregon that have been receiving computer handicap service from the PNGA transfer to the OGA. This causes bad feelings between the PNGA and OGA that will continue for almost 20 years.

1971
A major bylaw revision is adopted during the Annual Meeting at Waverley Country Club. Expansion of PNGA territory is among the changes: "Membership shall be open to properly organized golf clubs located in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, British Columbia and Alberta and shall be divided into five classifications: Regular, Associate, Associate Women, Individual and Honorary."

Jo Ann Washam becomes the first girl to receive a PNGA Evans Scholarship. She attends Washington State University. Later that summer, she goes on to successfully defend her PNGA Women's crown.

Rainier Golf & Country Club's Jim McLean tops the field at The Olympic Club, adding the Pacific Coast Amateur to his PNGA Men's Amateur title.

1972
Oregon's Mary Budke wins the U.S. Women's Amateur at St. Louis Country Club.

Vancouver B.C.'s Doug Roxburgh wins the first of his Canadian Men's Amateur titles.

1973
PNGA Executive Secretary George Skarich passes away. Al Jones succeeds him.

1974
WGA Director Elon Ellis of Portland Golf Club and his associates stage a new LPGA Tour event called the Portland Ladies' Classic. A portion of the proceeds ($10,000) are donated to the PNGA Evans Scholarship Program.

Long-time PNGA Director Ernie Jonson watches his son Ed win the PNGA Men's Amateur Championship at Sahalee Country Club, a course Ernie's brother and fellow PNGA Director, Carl, helped found in 1969.

The new Northwest Golfer magazine, published in Seattle by Ed Podolinsky, lists complete PNGA championship results and accounts of all major PNGA activities.

The USGA introduces its "Equitable Stroke Control" formula for the first time.

PNGA Past President "Charlie" Davis is appointed to the powerful USGA Executive Committee.

The PNGA office in Seattle increases its "family" and now serves as the administrative headquarters for the Northwest Golf Course Superintendents Association, Western Washington Branch of the PGA, the Washington headquarters for the Pacific Coast Golf Association, the Seattle Golf Association and the Washington State Golf Association. The term "Golf House Northwest" is coined to describe the alliance.

1975
John Fought of Portland's Tualatin Country Club wins the Pacific Coast Amateur at The Olympic Club.

1976
One month after capturing the PNGA Men's Amateur at Waverley Country Club, long-hitting Bill Sander wins the U.S. Amateur at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles.

For the first time, the PNGA Men's Amateur format includes a separate division for contestants 40 years of age and older. Buzz Edmonds of Bremerton, Wash., wins the division at Waverley Country Club.

Jefferson Park's Fred Couples wins the PNGA Junior Boys' Championship at Twin Lakes Golf & Country Club in Federal Way, Wash. He defeats Dave Wallace of Portland's Rock Creek Country Club, 3 & 2.

Mike Reid, playing out of Seattle's Broadmoor Golf Club, wins the Pacific Coast Amateur at Los Angeles Country Club, defeating Peter Jacobsen by four strokes.

1977
For the second consecutive year, a Northwest player is in the winner's circle at the U.S. Amateur when Portland's John Fought wins at Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania. Later in the year, Fought will be named to the Walker Cup team along with Bill Sander.

Joan Teats and friends form the Washington Junior Golf Association. Later in August, Fred Couples wins the first WJGA Boys' State Junior Championship at Yakima Country Club.

1978
The first PNGA Hall of Fame Awards Banquet is held at Tacoma Country & Golf Club during the Men's Amateur Championship. Erv Parent is the Chairman of the committee, which inducts Jack Westland, Harry Givan, Frank Dolp and Robert Hudson.

Sahalee Country Club plays host to the 12th annual Pacific Coast Amateur. Seattle's Mike Gove dominates the field, winning by a whopping 15 strokes.

1979
Marian (McDougall) Herron and Bud Ward are inducted into the PNGA Hall of Fame at a ceremony during the PNGA Men's Amateur at Eugene Country Club.

Chick Evans dies in Chicago at age 89.