The Riversdale Cup is the nation's second oldest amateur golf tournament and often regarded as one of the most prestigious 72-hole stroke events on the golfing calendar.

Rated in the top 50 amateur tournaments in the world by the Royal & Ancient, the Cup lives up to, and often enhances its reputation each year as one of the toughest challenges to the best amateur golfers from throughout the world.

Its reputation is such that over 200 players from all round the world seek a berth in the final field of around 160 players each year. On most occasions the "cut" is around the 1 handicap mark, so only the finest of amateurs get a chance to test their skills on the tough undulating fairways and very fast, contoured greens.

And rightly so, because the winner not only receives an invitation to play in the British Amateur Championship, but also points for entry into the European Amateur Championship and towards the Mark H McCormack Medal, which is presented annually by the R&A to the leading player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

This challenge has been the hallmark of the tournament throughout its history, dating back to when it was first played on the Club's Mont Albert Course between 22 and 25 May, 1896; making it second only by two years to the Australian Amateur Championship in historic terms.

The "Riversdale Cup" was first played for during an Open Amateur Meeting conducted when the Club was known as "Surrey Hills Golf Club". It was held on the Club's Mont Albert Course and the event was known as the "Surrey Hills Gentlemen's Championship, Gold Medal". When the Club moved to Camberwell in 1907, the tournament changed its name to the "Riversdale Golf Club". Although play was not possible in 1908, the meeting resumed the following year and the event took the title, the "Riversdale" Trophy.

This remained until 1927 when the Club moved to its present St John's Wood home, and in the following year the tournament was given the name, the "Riversdale Cup".

The successful staging of the tournament for more than a century has earned the Riversdale Golf Club the reputation as the "Home of amateur golf in Australia"; because it hosts not only the Men's Riversdale Cup each year, but also the Women's Riversdale Cup, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2008; the Men's and Women's Australian Amateur Foursome Championships and the International Teams event.