On May 31, 1936, attorney Thomas Masuda drafts a constitution for the Pacific Northwest Japanese Golf Association in Seattle, where the group is holding its sixth annual golf tournament. Masuda becomes the first president of the association, which will continue to hold annual tournaments in Northwest cities until 1941, when all persons of Japanese descent will be forced to leave the West Coast during World War II.
Annual Tournaments
The first Northwest Japanese amateur golf tournament was held on May 21, 1931, at Inverness Golf Course in Portland, Oregon, with clubs from Seattle, Tacoma, Vancouver, and Portland participating. Tournaments were held annually, even before the association was officially organized on May 31, 1936, with Thomas Masuda as president, J. Hayatsu of Tacoma as secretary, M. Matsuura of Portland as treasurer, and Dr. Tanaka, Henry Joruchi, T. Miyazaki, Masuda, and K. Uchiyama serving on the Board of Directors. The last tournament before evacuation took place on June 1, 1941, in Vancouver. At the end of the war, in 1946, the tournaments were resumed.
