Association is founded as the Amateur Golf Association of the United States. Charter members are the Chicago Golf Club, The Country Club, Newport Country Club, St. Andrew's Golf Club, and Shinnecock Hills Golf Club. The Richmond County Country Club was founded on Staten Island, NY. It is the only private golf course in NYC. 1894 The Otsego Golf Club, Springfield Center, New York, officially opened with 12 holes. Founded by Henry L. Wardwell and Leslie Pell-Clarke, the Otsego Golf Club has operated continuously since 1894 and is a nine-hole course today. Tacoma Golf Club is founded, the first golf club on the US Pacific Coast. 1895 1895 - Istanbul Golf Club "IGK" formerly known as Constantinople Golf Club is founded - the first golf club in Turkey The U.S. Amateur is instituted, with Charles B. Macdonald winning the inaugural event. The first U.S. Open is held the following day, with Horace Rawlins winning. May 1, 1895 - Brooklawn Country Club in Bridgeport, Connecticut, is founded as a nine-hole course. The club operates in the same location today, although the location is now part of Fairfield, Connecticut. The course is now 18 holes, redesigned by A.W. Tillinghast in 1929. July 6, 1895 - Van Cortlandt Park Golf Course opens - the first public golf course in America. The pool cue is banned as a putter by the USGA. The U.S. Women's Amateur is instituted. Mrs. Charles S. Brown (née Lucy N. Barnes) is the first winner. Cherokee Golf Course in Louisville, Kenticky, was laid out in Cherokee Park and played. Play picked up considerably by 1897 and in 1900 The Committee on Cherokee Park to make the links "safe" to the public was sanctioned. A caretaker for the Cherokee Park Greens was hired for $25 per month. Cherokee Park is part of the Olmsted Park system. Mr Olmsted did not want golf in this park, but the public created, played and the course was ultimately sanctioned and is played today. Cherokee GC is one of the oldest municipal and public golf courses in America. 1896 Harry Vardon wins his first British Open. Wee Burn Country Club is founded in Darien, Connecticut. A difficult links-style course that pays homage to the home nation of the game—Scotland. "Wee Burn" means "small river" in traditional Scottish dialect. 1897 The first NCAA Championship is held. Louis Bayard, Jr. is the winner. Golf, America's first golfing