Overland Park in Denver touts itself to be a WF Tucker/W Bell 1895

I think Waveland in Des Moines, IA also tries to claim the title, but have no idea if they are correct.

Overland golf course in Denver pushes pretty hard for that title. It was originally the Denver Country Club from what people tell me.

I played Overland a few times for high school tournaments. Its a fun course. Adjacent to I-25, its not the greatest scenic experience. Pretty easy as well

Jeff-
I think Waveland calls themselves the oldest Muni west of the Mississippi.

Buck

Victoria GC in Victoria BC has been in the same location for 114 years.  It's still a really fine course, a "Crail" or "Elie" experience although I just realize I have not played it for too long!  
Sorry if the reference was supposed to be about west of the Mississippi only in the US.

Of course if you go far enough west, The Old Course was here sometime about 2000BC or so, wasn't it?  

there has been debate if it is glen echo or del monte in the monterey peninsula. in fact last time i was at the tap room the waiter looked it up on the internet so we could debate it over meatloaf.

one question that comes up is:

oldest course or oldest 18 hole course

the oldest golf "club" in north america i am told but cannot confirm is royal montreal

Just spent some time going through the Victoria Golf Club 100th anniversary publication. As Gary Slatter said below, if "west of the Mississippi" is considered to be within the continental US, Canadian clubs would be excluded. In that case, so far as I am aware, the honour would belong to Gearhart Golf Club in Oregon. As the phrase, "west of the Mississippi" does not seem to consider national boundaries, I think the answer is truly Victoria Golf Club in Victoria BC.

I have pulled out a copy of their centennial publication "Victoria Golf Club 1893-1993" which I picked up in a used bookstore near Victoria a few years ago.

Chapter 1, headed "Beginnings" starts off:

""most people find it difficult to imagine the City of Victoria, or indeed any other intelligent community, existing without a really servicable golf course; yet so it was until the Victoria Golf Club came into existence on November 7, 1893. Furthermore, we have reliable evidence that it is the second-oldest golf club in its origianl location in North America (Shinnecock Hills, founded in New York State in 1892 is the oldest). To go even further back, one authority claims that a small group of Hudson's Bay officers were the first to play golf in the Pacific Northwest in the 1840s. An unnamed factor at Steilacoom, one of the HBC farms administered by Nisqually, on Puget Sound, inwhat is now Washington State, sent for his clubs from Scotland, and a small, seven hole course was laid out some two miles from the present village of Steilacoom.
Unfortunately, this brave venture came to an end when Washington became a US Territory and Steilacoom a military fort. . . . . "

The book goes on to point out a few other areas on Vancouver Island where golf was played at what is now Beacon Hill Park in Victoria in 1889 but no club was formed and the area eventulally became a public park, no golf.

Another reference I found in this area was referred to in the Victoria Golf Club history is to a publication "The Earliest History of Golf in Vancouver, BC" by Francis Chaledcott. It goes on to speak of the Vancouver Golf Club which was formed in 182 at Jericho, which is now a park / residential area on the harbour in Vancouver. Vancouver Golf Club is now located (and has been for a heck of a long time) in Coquitlam, which is a suburb to the east of Vancouver.

Enough. The Victoria Golf Club book is a great read. Chapter 2, entitled "Serious Progress" opens with a quote, " . . the first, the really basic rule of golf is never to let business, mere commercial or professional employment interest, interfere with the game . . " which is a quote taken from the Tacoma Legend.

Bob Jenkins



 

Bob Jenkins, the Fort Steilacoom course has been long rumored in Tacoma.  Consisting of only a few holes it would have sat somewhere on the grounds of what is now the Western State Mental Hospital.  

Whether it be the rumination of some hallucinating schizophrenic or reality, it would certainly be a great historic find to excavate any remnant of the course.  Those planning to see Chambers Bay can almost throw a rock and hit the property. There is now a 9 holer near the site and 27 holes of disc golf.  Just take care the men in the white coats don't lock you up while you are exploring!

All the sites I have checked have Waveland in Des Moines opening in 1894.

Town and Country, St. Paul, 1890