[1] The course first opened on May 29, 1897 as the Island Golf Links, a nine-hole layout for guests of the Garden City Hotel.
[2][3] Designed by Devereux Emmet, it was soon expanded to eighteen holes with a total length of over 6,000 yards (5,500 m), making it the longest course in the United States.
[6] Amateur Walter Travis, a founding member of the Garden City Golf Club, finished second in the tournament.
A few years later, Travis redesigned the layout of his home course, adding numerous bunkers and modifying the greens.
Amateur at the Garden City Golf Club, Travis hit a ball into a new pot bunker near the eighteenth green, which led to his defeat in a semifinal match against Jerry Travers.