The 'Royal' prefix was granted in June 1896 by Queen Victoria through the Governor General of Canada at that time, Lord Aberdeen, who was a patron of the association.

In 1895, he invited clubs from across Canada to attend "the first national golf championship" and to discuss the organization of an association with the mandate of conducting such events.

It was agreed that such an association should be formed and would hold its first Annual General Meeting on September 27, at the time of the Interprovincial Matches between Ontario and Quebec.

The constitution drawn up for the purpose stated the objectives of the organization as: "promote interest in the game of golf; the protection of the mutual interests of its members; establish and enforce uniformity in the rules of game by creating a representative authority,; its Executive Committee to be a court of reference as a final authority in matters of controversy; to establish a uniform system of handicapping; to decide on what links the Amateur and Open Championship shall be played."

The constitution was signed by the following ten clubs from across Canada: The first officers of the organization were: The prefix 'Royal' was granted in June 1896 by Queen Victoria.

Membership in the RCGA was: The Canadian Amateur Championship was to continue annually as it had operated in 1895, at match play, with the prize the Aberdeen Cup, donated by the Governor-General.

[3] In 1901, the organization introduced the Canadian Ladies' Amateur Championship, held at Royal Montreal Golf Club.

The Goal of this program is to develop young Men and Women Golfers to become top ranked Amateurs.

Team Canada has participants active year round, and provides both physical and mental coaching for golfers.

Discontinued in 1921, the need to improve the national scope of the association, and in particular its championships, coincided with the concept of team expenses provided being allowed.

In the 1950s, golf architect agronomist Robbie Robinson served the RCGA in a number of positions, including as general manager.

In 1991 the Association hired a permanent staff person for the Green Section, and has been involved in developing environmental guidelines, among other key materials, for golf courses today.

With the donation of $800,000 from the Shore Foundation, a building was erected at Glen Abbey as a home for the museum, the Hall of Fame and a library/archive on the game.

In the 1970s, the RCGA made the decision to move the Canadian Open to a permanent site at Glen Abbey Golf Course in Oakville, Ontario, along with headquarters of the association.

The owner since 2005, Clublink Corp, filed an application in October 2015[8] to redevelop the property into a residential community, with offices and retail stores.

This would make it more difficult for ClubLink to develop the area as it had planned, with 3,222 housing units and 122,000 square feet (11,300 m2) of retail and commercial space.

[9][10] Golf Canada was also concerned since it could not predict whether it could get the necessary permit to hold the Canadian Open at Glen Abbey in 2018.