C.B. (Charles Blair) Macdonald was both an accomplished amateur as well as golf course architect. He had his hand in shaping the game of golf in its infancy and created some of the world’s greatest courses played to this day including Chicago Golf Club and National Golf Links of America. Macdonald also collaborated with another course architect who would also become famous names Seth Raynor and they created courses like the famed Yale University Course, Shinnecock Hills and the Mid Ocean Club in Bermuda.
In 1894, the Newport Country Club and St. Andrew’s Golf Club both held “national championship” tournaments. Macdonald finished second in both, and on both occasions was publicly upset with the result that both tournaments were declared unofficial. That fall, delegates from the Chicago Golf Club (including Macdonald), St. Andrew’s, The Country Club, Newport Country Club, and Shinnecock Hills Golf Club met in New York City to fix this issue and come up with a solution. The result was the formation of the United States Golf Association (USGA), which would administer the official championship. Macdonald was named Vice President of the organization. The first U.S. Amateur was held in 1895 at the Newport Country Club, and this time Macdonald won, beating Charles Sands by a record margin of 12 & 11 in the final.
