This state of affairs prompted Charles B. Macdonald of the Chicago Golf Club to call for the creation of a national governing body to authorize an official national championship, and the Amateur Golf Association of the United States, which was soon to be renamed the United States Golf Association, was formed on December 22 of that year.

Originally, entry was restricted to members of USGA-affiliated private clubs (and, presumably, international players who were members of private clubs affiliated with their nations' golf governing bodies), a restriction that was not lifted until 1979.

Nowadays it is usually won by players in their late teens or early twenties who are working towards a career as a tournament professional.

Before World War II more top-level golfers chose to remain amateur, and the average age of U.S.

Woods' first win, as an 18-year-old in 1994, made him the youngest winner of the event, breaking the previous record of 19 years 5 months set by Robert Gardner in 1909.

This is no longer the case, but the champion still receives an automatic invitation to play in all of the majors except the PGA Championship.

The golfers must maintain their amateur status at the time the events are held (unless they qualify for the tournaments by other means).

Amateur Championship in that the tournament winner only may turn professional and keep his berth for the ensuing U.S. Open.

In 1981 the USGA established a new championship called the U.S. Mid-Amateur for amateurs aged at least 25 years old in order to give players who had not joined the professional ranks, and those who had regained their amateur status, a chance to play against each other for a national title.