HOW TO RESEARCH YOUR CLUB HISTORY

For those of you who are thinking, ‘I would like to begin research on my golf club, but I don’t know where to start,’ we would like to offer some tips on the best ways to find the information you need.

Check out this research article written by the curator of Golf Canada – The CGHF Research 101

Step 1: Form a History Committee

• Have each committee member read several club histories.
• Look over several other publications about the history of sport in Canada.

Decide what your goal is:

• Publishing the club history to commemorate an anniversary?
• Recording the information for potential future publication?
• Gathering the information, informally, for the club’s records?

Step 2: Begin the Search

The first task of the committee is to inform club members of the project. Members tend to collect exactly the kind of information that you will require. Ask specifically for old club papers, photographs, trophies or other memorabilia that you can borrow, photograph or scan. Instead of spending hours looking for something that might be right under your nose, ask your members what they have!

For more modern clubs, consider performing oral history interviews with older members, who may still remember pivotal events and can provide a boundless source of anecdotes. (Keep in mind that no one’s memory is entirely reliable all of the time, so if at all possible, try to find more than one source.)

There are a lot of primary sources to help you find information. Look for:

• Record of meeting minutes
• Club newsletters
• Tournament records

• Old photographs

• Trophies

Step 3: Sort and Organize

When your research and collecting is done, sort through the material and put it into chronological order. With the information organized in this fashion, it will be easier for you to determine the specifics on important dates, key figures and major events. Any club history should have information about founding members, location changes, changes in course layout, the evolution of the clubhouse, the growth of the membership, staff and tournaments history.

If your golf club has had members who have won a provincial or a national title, or if any such championships were ever held at your course, definitely make the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum a priority when sourcing information. If you aren’t within driving distance, try writing to the Curator at cghf@golfcanada.ca. We can gather information on these events for you. All member clubs have access to free research and referencing – a great resource right at your fingertips!

‘Is there any other places or people that you would recommend I contact?’