Golf Association of Philadelphia

The Golf Association of Philadelphia is the oldest regional Golf Association in the United States. Better known as the GAP, the Golf Association of Philadelphia was founded in 1897 by members of Aronimink Golf Club, Merion Cricket Club, Philadelphia Country Club and Philadelphia Cricket Club. Its 150 member clubs are spread across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. The purpose of the association is simple: to preserve, protect and promote the game of golf.

On December 22, 1894, delegates from five clubs – St. Andrews Golf Club, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Newport Golf Club, The Country Club (Brookline, Massachusetts), and Chicago Golf Club – met at the Calumet Club in Manhattan to form the Amateur Golf Association of the United States (subsequently to change its name, first to The American Golf Association, then to the United States Golf Association). Less than a month afterwards the Essex Country Club and the Philadelphia Country Club were elected to membership, the sixth and seventh on the roll.

A little more than two years later, the Golf Association of Philadelphia was founded. It was America's first regional golf association. Interestingly, once again the Devon Golf Club served as a spur. For it was on this organization's course that the first interclub team match in the Philadelphia area was played. On Oct. 15, 1896 a team representing Philadelphia Cricket Club squared off against Devon's top players. The Cricket Club won 22 to 12. The occasion was so thoroughly enjoyable (even the losers had a grand time!) that the appeal of interclub matches on a broader scale was discussed and embraced. The obvious outgrowth of such thinking was the formation of an association of local golf clubs to organize and administer these competitions.