Canadian Amateur Championship

The Canadian Amateur Championship, begun in 1895, is the men's amateur golf championship of Canada. It is staged annually by the Royal Canadian Golf Association. It was played at match play until 1968, went to stroke play beginning in 1969, and reverted to match play in 1995."Golf in Canada: A History", by James A. Barclay, Toronto, McClelland and Stewart, 1992.] It returned to stroke play in 2008.

Founding and early years

The Royal Canadian Golf Association was founded in June 1895, at a meeting held in Ottawa by ten charter member clubs, hosted by the Ottawa Golf Club (later the Royal Ottawa Golf Club), and the new organization was granted the prefix 'Royal' in 1896. In conjunction with the meeting, the first men's amateur championship was staged, at match play, with the Governor General, Lord Aberdeen, donating a trophy, the Aberdeen Cup, to the champion. Thomas Harley of Kingston, Ontario won the first championship.

This makes the Canadian Amateur slightly older than the U.S. Amateur, which was first staged later in 1895, and hence the second oldest national amateur championship in the world, after the British Amateur Championship, which began in 1885.

The Aberdeen Cup was granted in perpetuity to George Lyon, after he won three straight titles from 1905 to 1907. The original cup was retained by Lyon, but was eventually lost. A new trophy was then provided, the Earl Grey Cup. Lyon would win a total of eight Canadian titles, which is still a record.

The tournament was held annually until 1914 inclusive, but then was cancelled from 1915 to 1918 because of World War I. It resumed in 1919, and then was staged annually until 1939 inclusive, being cancelled again from 1940 to 1945 because of World War II. It has been held annually since 1946.

Willingdon Cup

In 1927, the interprovincial team matches, which had begun in 1882, and held 27 times until 1921, between teams from Ontario and Quebec, but then dropped, ["History of Golf In Canada", by Lawrence Vincent Kavanagh, Don Mills, Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 1973, p. 163.] were resumed with the start of the Willingdon Cup competition, playing for a cup donated by the Governor General, Lord Willingdon. The Willingdon Cup features teams of four top players from each province, and is held on the first two days of the Canadian Amateur, which are also the qualifying days for the balance of the tournament.The Willingdon Cup was also not played from 1940-45.

Rotation around country

The Canadian Amateur stayed in Ontario and Quebec until 1921, when it went to Winnipeg. It went to Alberta for the first time in 1929, to British Columbia for the first time in 1932, to Atlantic Canada for the first time in 1949, and to Saskatchewan for the first time in 1950. ["History of Golf in Canada", by Lawrence Vincent Kavanagh, Toronto, Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 1973, pp.160-161.] Since then, it has rotated around the country's top courses, with the current format allowing each of the six major golf regions (Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia) to have its turn on approximately a six-year cycle. Among Canada's ten provinces, only Newfoundland and Labrador has yet to host it.

Dominant players

The Canadian Amateur was dominated in the 1920s and 1930s by Ross Somerville, who won six titles, and finished runner-up four times. Moe Norman won back-to-back titles in 1955 and 1956. Nick Weslock won the first of his four titles in 1957. Although Gary Cowan was consistently the best Canadian amateur from the late 1950s into the mid-1970s, he managed to win only one Canadian title, in 1961, but lost in the finals four more times, as well as finishing runner-up twice in stroke play. Doug Roxburgh won his first of four crowns in 1972. Jim Nelford won two in a row from 1975-1976, then narrowly missed a third in 1977, when he lost to Rod Spittle, who won two in a row. Brent Franklin won three in a row from 1985-1987, a feat not seen since Lyon did it some eighty years earlier. Richard Scott won the Canadian title in three years out of four from 2003 to 2006. [http://www.rcga.org, the Canadian Amateur results archive.]

From the late 1920s into the 1970s, the Canadian Amateur often attracted many of the top American amateurs, several of whom carried the trophy south, including Dick Chapman, Frank Stranahan, Don Cherry, Harvie Ward, Allen Miller, Dick Siderowf, and George Burns. Other leading Americans who competed but fell short include William C. Campbell, Jay Sigel, and Nathaniel Crosby. The Canadian title has also been won by South African Reg Taylor (1962), New Zealanders Stuart Jones (1967) and Gareth Paddison (2001), Mexican Rafael Alarcon (1979), and Australian Gary Simpson (1993).

Most championships hosted

The Toronto Golf Club has hosted the most Canadian Amateurs, with eight (1898, 1901, 1903, 1905, 1909, 1913, 1926, and 1995). Next are Royal Ottawa Golf Club with seven (1895, 1899, 1906, 1911, 1914, 1925, and 1951); and Royal Montreal Golf Club with seven (1897, 1900, 1902, 1904, 1908, 1912, and 1931). Hamilton Golf and Country Club has hosted six championships (1922, 1927, 1935, 1948, 1977, and 1994).

Winners

Future sites

*2009 Le Blainvillier Golf Club, QUE
*2010 London Hunt Club, ONT
*2011 Niakwa Country Club, MAN
*2012 Camelot Golf Club, ONT
*2013 Royal Colwood Golf Club, BC
*2014 Elmhurst Golf Club, MAN
*2015 Weston Golf Club, ONT
*2016 Royal Ottawa Golf Club, QUE

References

External links

* [http://www.ontgolf.ca/history/canadianamateur_pastchampions.html List of winners]