On 24th August 1896 a meeting of representatives of the Isle of Wight Golf Clubs was held at Ryde, at which a resolution was unanimously carried that the Isle of Wight Golf Union should be formed for the encouragement and advancement of the game on the Island.
The Isle of Wight thus followed Hampshire (1893), Yorkshire & Norfolk (1894) and Cornwall (1896) in a movement which spread for the following 30 years to nearly every county in England.
The Amateur Golf Championship of the Isle of Wight was first played under the auspices of the Union on 19th October 1896 on the course of the Royal Isle of Wight Golf Club.
The Championship Challenge Cup was presented by Lieutenant Commander H McMaster in 1928.
At a meeting of the English Golf Union on 8 November 1973 it was decided that the Isle of Wight Golf Union lose its independent status as a separate union, joining with Hampshire but would retain one of the seats allocated to Hampshire on the English Golf Union
