[1] 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.

[2] 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.

[3] The 1898 championship was won by Hugh MacNeil who finished 14 holes ahead of the runner-up Ted Simpson.

[5] MacNeil was absent in 1900 and the championship was won by Edward Bayly Macarthur by a single hole from Simpson.

[8] In early 1903 it was decided to separate the Hampden Cup from the New South Wales Amateur Championship.

The Hampden Cup would remain a scratch bogey competition for members of the two clubs, while the NSW Amateur Championship would be organised later in the year, as a match-play event.

[12] An amateur, Dan Soutar, won the open competition by two strokes from Carnegie Clark, followed by five other professionals.

[14] Dan Soutar retained the title in 1904, beating Richmond Whytt 12&11 in the final, having dominated the event.

[15] The qualifying stage was for amateurs only and was played in very difficult conditions, with the Saturday afternoon round postponed to the following Monday.

[17][18] 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.

[23] Oscar O'Brien led the qualifying, but the final was contested between Ted Simpson and 18-year-old Eric Apperly.

[24] The 1908 event was held on the new course of The Australian Golf Club at Kensington and resulted in a second success for O'Brien.

[45][46] When the championship resumed in 1946, defending champion Alan Waterson lost in the semi-final to the eventual winner, Kep Enderby.

[52] Harry Berwick was another multiple winner in the 1950s, winning in 1953 and 1955, and he also reached the final in 1958, losing to Bruce Devlin.

In 1968 the stroke-play stage was extended to 72 holes and became a separate competition, the New South Wales Medal, although it continued to be used as qualification for the amateur championship.