In early 1898
Lord Hampden, the
Governor of New South Wales, presented a solid silver cup to the
Royal Sydney and
The Australian golf clubs. The two clubs agreed that the cup would be presented to the winner of a 72-hole
bogey competition, with 36 holes played on each of the two courses, and be regarded as the amateur championship of New South Wales. Entry was restricted to members of New South Wales clubs. The 1898 championship was won by
Hugh MacNeil who finished 14 holes ahead of the runner-up
Ted Simpson. It was agreed that the 1903 NSW Amateur would be played at
The Australian Golf Club in October. There would be a 36-hole stroke-play stage after which the leading 8 amateurs would play 36-hole match-play. The stroke-play stage would be run as a separate competition with entry open to professionals as well as amateurs. Amateurs and professionals from outside New South Wales were able to compete. The open event was seen as a preliminary to the establishment of an
Australian Open. An amateur,
Dan Soutar, won the open competition by two strokes from
Carnegie Clark, followed by five other professionals. Soutar finished 15 strokes ahead of the other amateurs. He went on to win the NSW Amateur, beating
Henry Gritton 10&8 in the final. He beat
Hugh MacNeil 6&4 in the first round and then
Frank Hargreaves 15&14 in the semi-final. There was no championship in 1905, with
The Australian Golf Club, which had hosted the event in 1903 and 1904, in the process of moving from Botany to Kensington. The organisation of golf in the state was in a period of change with the New South Wales Golf Council being formed in late 1905, initially without Royal Sydney, who joined in 1906. Royal Sydney was then chosen to host the 1906 championship, the first under the control of the NSW Golf Council. The format from 1904 was retained with 8 qualifiers. Soutar having turned professional, the championship saw two new finalists,
Oscar O'Brien and
Tom Cheadle, O'Brien winning 5&3.
Oscar O'Brien led the qualifying, but the final was contested between
Ted Simpson and 18-year-old
Eric Apperly. Simpson won at the 37th hole.
Michael Scott qualified second and went on to win the championship.
Tom Howard, the 1914 runner-up won the event in 1919 and 1921 before turning professional. In 1936 the 36-hole qualifying was reintroduced but with 32 qualifiers, all match-play rounds being over 36 holes.
Jim Ferrier won in 1931, as a 16-year-old, and won three more times in the 1930s. However Waterson won again in 1947 and 1948, completing a run of four wins in five editions.
Tony Gresham became the first medallist, finishing a stroke ahead of
Barry Burgess. Gresham reached the final of the championship but lost 6&5 to
Jack Newton. Gresham reached the final again in 1969, losing to
Don Sharp, before winning in 1970, beating
Barry Burgess in the final. From 1971 the NSW Medal was generally played at a different venue to the amateur championship. In 1971 the number of qualifiers was increased again to 32.
Harry Berwick won the championship for a third time, 16 years after his previous win. Two years later, in 1973, he won for the fourth time, with
Tony Gresham winning for the second time in 1972.
Colin Kaye won three times in four years, in 1974, 1976 and 1977, with
Phil Wood another repeat winner, in 1975 and 1978. Gresham won for a third time in 1982 and he is the last repeat winner. ==Winners==