Celebrating the 125th Anniversary of NJ Golf: A Storied History
KENILWORTH, NEW JERSEY - Today, June 1 marks 125 years to the date that New Jersey Golf (then known as the New Jersey State Golf Association - "NJSGA") was founded by ten clubs over dinner at the original Essex County Country Club in West Orange. The clubs represented at this first official meeting were Essex County, Baltusrol Golf Club, Morris County Golf Club, North Jersey Country Club, Yountakah Country Club, The Englewood Golf Club, The Golf Club of Lakewood, The Golf Club of Montclair, The Hillside Golf and Tennis Club of Plainfield (now known as Plainfield Country Club) and Jersey City Golf Club. Today, seven of the ten founding clubs remain in existence: Baltusrol, Morris County, Essex County, Plainfield, Lakewood, Montclair and North Jersey.
One of the main objectives of the organization was to conduct championships exclusively for New Jersey golfers. The first tournament, the New Jersey State Amateur Championship, was held in September of 1900 “on the links at Essex County Country Club” and was won by Archibald Graham of North Jersey Country Club. For the next 18 years, the Amateur remained the only championship conducted by the NJSGA until 1919, when the first NJSGA Junior Championship was played. In 1921, a third event was added to the championship schedule when the New Jersey State Open was conducted for the first time, representing the only NJSGA event open to both amateur and professional competitors. This remained the case until the Senior Open was added to the schedule in 1989. Today, NJ Golf conducts 25 championships for amateurs and professionals, juniors and adults, women and men, as well as team competitions. On June 23, just weeks from now, the newest championship will be unveiled with the inaugural playing of the Parent-Child Championship.
1947 was also a milestone year in the history of the NJSGA as the Caddie Scholarship Foundation was created. Almost immediately, the CSF became one of the most impactful and recognizable programs administered by the NJSGA. In the ensuing 75 years, the Foundation has awarded more than $17 million in scholarships to deserving youth caddies.
The organization experienced a major expansion of its services in the early 1980’s when it began to offer handicapping and course rating services to its member clubs. In 2018, the NJSGA was certified by the USGA as one of 59 Allied Golf Associations authorized to administer the USGA Handicapping and Course Rating Systems and “enhance the golfer experience at the state and local levels”.
In 2007, the NJSGA significantly expanded its championship offerings following a merger with the Garden State Women’s Golf Committee resulting in the addition of the Women’s Amateur, Mid-Amateur, Senior Amateur, Junior Girls and the Women’s Public Links championships to the tournament schedule. Shortly thereafter, the organization welcomed its first female members to the Board of Trustees.
In 1993, the organization established its second charitable foundation with the creation of the NJSGA Youth Foundation. Since then, the Foundation has awarded more than $675,000 to deserving youth organizations throughout the state and has led clinics, instructional programs and other initiatives aimed at youngsters in New Jersey.
In 2013, the NJSGA moved to its current headquarters at the Galloping Hill Golf Course facility in Kenilworth. The move was made a reality through many years of planning with the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders and NJSGA leadership - most notably NJSGA Presidents John Murray, Robert Cronheim and Adrian M. "Bud" Foley. In 2021, the conference room at NJ Golf Headquarters was dedicated to the memory of John Murray in consideration of the pivotal role he played in not only the development of the headquarters facility, but in many other aspects of the Association’s growth and expansion.
Today, NJ Golf represents over 80,000 individual golfers and more than 250 private clubs, public courses, and organizations statewide.
