The original MCC (inc. 1895) was bounded on the east by N. Downer Ave., on the south by E. Locust, on the west by N. Oakland Avenue, and at the time the north boundary was a fence through some fields.
It appears from this 1897 article that they placed markers at 150 and 200 yards from the tee on at least some of their holes holes so players would know how far they drove the ball. Granted, it's not 150 or 20 from the green, but I cannot remember any earlier mention of yardage markers.
http://tinyurl.com/lzxvlygIt is kind of ironic that the markers were laid out across holes in the "Dummy" Valley section of the course.
