With all due respect to Bobby Jones, the title of “father of amateur golf” in the United States belongs to Francis Ouimet (pronounced wee-MAY). Ouimet’s stunning victory in the 1913 United States Open spurred the growth of golf in America and a love affair with the sport that continues today.
Ouimet was born in May, 1893 in Brookline, Massachusetts during a time when golf in America had few players, no public golf courses, and only the wealthy could afford to play. He grew up in a working class family. The family moved across from the 17th hole at The Country Club of Brookline when Ouimet was four years old, and he showed interest in the game at an early age. By 11, Ouimet had secured a job as a caddie at The Country Club. Using old clubs and balls, Ouitmet taught himself how to play the game. His natural ability earned him the reputation as one of the best high school golfers in the state. Ouimet’s father believed golf and school offered very little future for his son and told Francis to find a job. Francis landed a position in a dry goods store before landing a job with a sporting goods store owned by baseball hall of famer George Wright, one of the original players on the franchise now known as the Atlanta Braves. Wright encouraged Ouimet to continue playing golf.
In 1913, Ouimet won his first tournament of any significance, the Massachusetts Amateur Open. That win propelled him to the United States Amateur Open where he lost in the quarterfinals at the Garden City Golf Club in New York City in September. Soon afterwards, Robert Watson, president of the United States Golf Association, asked Ouimet to play in the United States Open later that month at The Country Club of Brookline, a course Ouimet knew very well. The U.S. Open that year changed its playing date from June to accommodate the schedules of the first and second ranked golfers in the world at the time—British greats Harry Vardon and Ted Ray.
Ouimet had never played in a U.S. Open but found himself tied with the two British stars after 72 holes. In one of the greatest upsets in sports history, Ouimet beat Vardon and Ray the next day in the rain during an 18-hole playoff. A 20-year old amateur beat the two best golfers in the world—Ray by six strokes and Vardon by five. Ouimet’s stunning victory became the catalyst for the growth and popularity of the game in the United States.
Players from England and Scotland had dominated the sport in the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. In America, mostly members of private clubs played the game during this time and very few public courses existed. According to the World Golf Hall of Fame, about 350,000 Americans played golf in 1913. Ten years later, over two million Americans played golf and private and public courses sprang up across the country to keep up with the demand.
Ouimet won 27 tournaments as an amateur, including the 1914 and 1931 U.S. Amateur Opens. He came close to winning several other U.S. Amateur Opens during the 1920s, but many of those championships belonged to another great amateur, Bobby Jones. Ouimet was the first person to win both the U.S. Amateur Open and the U.S. Open. Also, Ouimet played on the first eight Walker Cup teams and was Captain of the next four. His teams compiled a record of 11-1.
Because of his ambition to move up into the middle class, Ouimet remained an amateur his entire life and focused his attention on the business world. Golfers in Ouimet’s era found it difficult to become wealthy playing golf. How times have changed!
Only ten years after winning the U.S. Open, Ouimet had become a banker and stock broker. In later years, he became a successful financial adviser.
In 1949, a group of Ouimet’s friends started the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund. The Fund gives college scholarships to young caddies in Massachusetts. To date, more than 5,100 young men and women have received over $26 million in scholarship money.
Ouimet, in 1955, received the Bob Jones Award–the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. The World Golf Hall of Fame inducted Ouimet along with Jones, Vardon and six others into its first class for men in 1974.
The “father of amateur golf” passed away in Newton, Massachusetts in 1967 at the age of 74. Cheers to the great Francis Ouimet, America’s first golf hero!
