Francis Ouimet
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Francis Ouimet | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Personal information | |||||
Full name | Francis DeSales Ouimet | ||||
Born | Brookline, Massachusetts | May 8, 1893||||
Died | September 2, 1967 Newton, Massachusetts | (aged 74)||||
Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) | ||||
Weight | 175 lb (79 kg; 12.5 st) | ||||
Sporting nationality | United States | ||||
Spouse |
Stella Sullivan
(m. 1918–1965) | ||||
Children | Janice, Barbara | ||||
Career | |||||
Status | Amateur | ||||
Professional wins | 3 | ||||
Best results in major championships (wins: 3) | |||||
Masters Tournament | WD: 1941 | ||||
PGA Championship | DNP | ||||
U.S. Open | Won: 1913 | ||||
The Open Championship | T56: 1914 | ||||
U.S. Amateur | Won: 1914, 1931 | ||||
British Amateur | T3: 1923 | ||||
Achievements and awards | |||||
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Francis DeSales Ouimet (/wiːˈmɛt/) (May 8, 1893 – September 2, 1967) was an American amateur golfer who is frequently referred to as the "father of amateur golf" in the United States. He won the U.S. Open in 1913 and was the first non-Briton elected Captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.[1][2]
Early life
Ouimet was born to Mary Ellen Burke and Arthur Ouimet in
Ouimet became interested in golf at an early age and started
Golf career
1913 U.S. Open
In 1913, Ouimet won his first significant title at age 20, the
It was Ouimet's first appearance in the championship. Eddie Lowery was his ten year old caddie. After 72 holes of regulation play ended in a three-way tie, Ouimet, Vardon, and Ray engaged in an 18-hole playoff the next day in rainy conditions. Ouimet won the playoff at one-under-par for the day, beating Vardon by 5 strokes and Ray by 6.[6] His victory was widely hailed as a stunning upset over the strongly favored British, who were regarded as the top two golfers in the world. He was the first amateur to win the U.S. Open. The biggest crowds ever seen in American golf followed the playoff, and his achievement was front-page news across the country.
Ouimet's U.S. Open success is credited for bringing golf into the American sporting mainstream. Before his win over Vardon and Ray, golf was dominated by British players. In America, the sport was restricted to players with access to private facilities. There were very few public courses (the first, Van Cortlandt Golf Course in The Bronx borough of New York City, opened in 1895.) Ten years after his 1913 victory, the number of American players had tripled and many new courses had been built, including numerous public ones.
In 1963, WGBH-TV, Boston's public television station, aired an interview with Ouimet at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, to mark the 50th anniversary of his win at the 1913 U.S. Open. The kinescope of that interview was included in the DVD of the Walt Disney film The Greatest Game Ever Played. Disney's film took artistic license, portraying the win as having been by a single stroke when, in reality, Ouimet won by five strokes.
Controversy resolved
Ouimet never turned professional;
Ouimet won his second U.S. Amateur in 1931.[1] During the 1920s, he lost several close matches to Bobby Jones, who dominated amateur golf for that decade.
Later achievements
Ouimet won the
Two other aspects of Ouimet's golf career are important: He used the overlapping grip to hold the club and was among the first top players to use this method. He very likely used the grip to emulate Vardon, who often is credited with developing the grip. Many great golf champions since have used this technique. The method is named for the "overlapping' of the little finger of the top hand between the forefinger and middle finger of the bottom hand. Ouimet mentored and encouraged the young Gene Sarazen, who developed into one of golf's greatest champions.[4][8]
Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund
In 1949, a group of Ouimet's friends started a scholarship in his honor, naming it the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund.[1] The scholarship was created to give college scholarship aid to young people who worked as caddies at clubs in Massachusetts. The inaugural class had 13 scholars who received a total of $4,600. Since then more than 6,300 students have been selected as Ouimet Scholars, receiving more than $43 million in need-based college tuition assistance. Today's requirements state that young people who have given at least two years of service to golf as caddies, worked in a pro shop operations, in course superintendent operations or "on-course" food and beverage in Massachusetts are eligible to receive the four-year renewable Scholarship.
The Ouimet Fund overview can be found at www.ouimet.org and is the second largest "caddie" scholarship in the U.S. and the largest independent scholarship fund in Massachusetts. Students complete a rigorous application and interview process, similar to the college process, before being selected as a Ouimet Scholar. The final step is an interview with a group of Ouimet Alumni, directors and/or donors. Once selected, students may attend any school they wish, and annually, these Scholars attend approximately 150 different colleges or universities across the country. Since the Ouimet Fund is a need-based scholarship, awards can range anywhere from a few thousand dollars to $80,000 or more over four years.
The Francis Ouimet Award for Lifelong Contributions to Golf was first presented in 1997 and is presented annually at the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund's banquet. Past winners include Arnold Palmer (1997), Peter Jacobsen (2006), Jack Nicklaus (2007), and Annika Sörenstam (2010) and in 2021 the Ouimet Fund honors broadcaster Jim Nantz.[9]
Depictions
In 1988 a portrait of Ouimet appeared on a commemorative 25-cent United States Postal Service postage stamp in his honor.[10]
In 2002,
Appearing on the cover of The Greatest Game is a photograph of Ouimet at the U.S. Open with his ten-year-old caddie, Eddie Lowery. This iconic image is one of the best known in American golf and was used as the logo for the United States Golf Association's Centennial celebrations. A statue of Ouimet and Lowery based on the photograph stands in Brookline, Massachusetts, and at the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Florida.
A street is named after Ouimet in Greenside, Johannesburg, South Africa, close to the Parkview Golf Course. A number of adjacent streets are also named after golfers,[11] although the street in Johannesburg is named Quimet Street. How the misspelling occurred is not known. The street is still sometimes pronounced (correctly) without the Q, while it is also sometimes pronounced in the French way (Wee-May).[citation needed]
Personal life
Ouimet aspired to become a businessman to elevate himself into the middle class. The life of a professional golfer at that time did not offer an avenue to reach that goal. Within ten years of his U.S. Open victory, Ouimet had started to work as a banker and eventually a stock broker, which had always been his intention. He culminated his business career as a customer's financial advisor at
During the First World War he served in the US Army.[12]
He married Stella M. Sullivan on September 11, 1918.[13] They had two daughters: Janice Salvi and Barbara McLean.
Ouimet died in Newton, Massachusetts, on September 2, 1967, at age 74.[14]
Tournament wins (27)
- 1909 Boston Interscholastic
- 1910 Boston Interscholastic, Woodland Golf Club Open
- 1911 Woodland Golf Club Open
- 1912 The Country Club Cup, Allston Golf Club Open Championship
- 1913 Massachusetts Amateur, Meadow Brook Golf Club Open
- 1914 French Open Amateur Championship
- 1915 Massachusetts Amateur, Baltimore Country Club Spring Invitational
- 1917 Western Amateur
- 1919 Massachusetts Amateur
- 1920 North and South Amateur
- 1922 Massachusetts Amateur, Houston Invitational
- 1923 St. George's Challenge
- 1924 Crump Memorial
- 1925 Massachusetts Amateur, Gold Mashie Tournament, Bermuda Handicap Tourney at Riddle's Bay
- 1927 Crump Memorial
- 1931 U.S. Amateur
- 1932 Massachusetts Open
- 1934 Boston Open
Professional and amateur majors shown in bold.
Major championships (3)
Professional wins (1)
Year | Championship | 54 holes | Winning score | Margin | Runners-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1913 | U.S. Open | Tied for lead | +12 (77-74-74-79=304) | Playoff 1 | Harry Vardon, Ted Ray |
1 Defeated Vardon and Ray in an 18-hole playoff – Ouimet 72 (−1), Vardon 77 (+4), Ray 78 (+5)
Amateur wins (2)
Year | Championship | Winning score | Runner-up |
---|---|---|---|
1914 | U.S. Amateur |
6 & 5 | Jerome Travers |
1931 | U.S. Amateur |
6 & 5 | Jack Westland |
Results timeline
Tournament | 1910 | 1911 | 1912 | 1913 | 1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1919 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
U.S. Open | 1 LA | T5 | T35 | NT | NT | T18 | ||||
The Open Championship | T56 | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | ||||
U.S. Amateur
|
DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | R16 | 1 | R16 | NT | NT | QF | |
The Amateur Championship | R128 | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT |
Tournament | 1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
U.S. Open | T29 | T3 | ||||||||
The Open Championship | ||||||||||
U.S. Amateur
|
2 | R16 M | R16 | SF | SF | DNQ | SF | SF | R32 | SF |
The Amateur Championship | R128 | SF | R64 |
Tournament | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | NYF | NYF | NYF | NYF | ||||||
U.S. Open | ||||||||||
The Open Championship | ||||||||||
U.S. Amateur
|
R32 | 1 | SF | R256 | R256 | R64 | WD | DNQ | ||
The Amateur Championship | R32 | R256 | R64 |
Tournament | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | WD | NT | NT | NT | ||||||
U.S. Open | NT | NT | NT | NT | ||||||
The Open Championship | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | ||||
U.S. Amateur
|
DNQ | NT | NT | NT | NT | |||||
The Amateur Championship | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | R32 | R128 |
Tournament | 1950 |
---|---|
Masters Tournament | |
U.S. Open | |
The Open Championship | |
U.S. Amateur
|
|
The Amateur Championship | R128 |
Note: As an amateur, Ouimet could not play in the PGA Championship.
M = Medalist
LA = Low amateur
NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
WD = Withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
DNQ = Did not qualify for match play portion
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
Summary
Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - |
U.S. Open | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | - |
The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - |
U.S. Amateur |
2 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 16 | 26 | 19 |
The Amateur Championship | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 10 | - |
Totals | 3 | 1 | 8 | 14 | 18 | 23 | 44 | 19 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 9 (1913 U.S. Amateur – 1924 U.S. Amateur)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 3 (1921 U.S. Amateur – 1923 The Amateur Championship, 1923 U.S. Amateur – 1925 U.S. Open)
U.S. national team appearances
Amateur
- Walker Cup: 1922 (winners), 1923 (winners), 1924 (winners), 1926 (winners), 1928 (winners), 1930 (winners), 1932 (winners, playing captain), 1934 (winners, playing captain), 1936 (winners, playing captain), 1938 (non-playing captain), 1947 (winners, non-playing captain), 1949 (winners, non-playing captain)
Further reading
- Gibson, Nevin H. The Encyclopedia of Golf (A.S. Barnes & Company, 1958)
- Frost, Mark The Greatest Game Ever Played: Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet, and the Birth of Modern Golf (Hyperion, 2002)
References
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d Kelley, Brent. "Francis Ouimet Biography: The Amateur Who Energized American Golf". About.com. Archived from the original on November 12, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2011.
- ^ Duca, Rob. "America's triumph: Remembering a legend". Cape Cod Times. Archived from the original on December 15, 2000. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
- ^ a b "Brookline Amateur Wins U.S. Open". Mass Moments. September 19, 1913.
- ^ ISBN 9780786869206.
- ^ "Ouimet, Francis D." HickokSports.com. Archived from the original (Sports Biography) on June 7, 2009.
- ^ "Ouimet Ties Great English Golfers. Twenty-Year-Old Schoolboy's Wonderful Performance in National Open Golf". The New York Times. September 20, 1913. Retrieved January 2, 2011.
An American youth, Francis Ouimet, a stripling scarcely out of his teens, carved a niche for himself in international sporting history here to-day when he tied with England's famous professional golfers, Harry Vardon and Edward Ray, in the final round of the national open championship.
- ^ "Ouimet's Aged Mother Is Happy, But His Health Is First Thought. New Golf Champion's 70-Year-Old Parent Hopeful That Her Son Did Not Tax His Strength--Tells How He Swang at Stones With Home-Made Clubs at 4". The New York Times. September 6, 1931. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
- ISBN 978-0689115172.
- ^ "Marblehead's Lynch tabbed for prestigious award". North Shore Golf Blog. April 10, 2010. Archived from the original on April 2, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2011.
- Scott catalog# 2377.
- ^ "The Story Behind Greensides Road Names". The Heritage Portal. October 30, 2013. Archived from the original on April 29, 2015.
- .
- ^ "Francis Ouimet Marries". The New York Times. September 12, 1918. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
Lieutenant Francis Ouimet, former amateur national golf champion, and Stella Sullivan were married in Boston
- ^ "Francis Ouimet, Golfer, Is Dead; First Amateur to Win U.S. Open; Gardener's Son Who Won in 1913 Showed Sport Wasn't Only for the Affluent". The New York Times. United Press International. September 2, 1967. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
General references
- Source for U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur: USGA Championship Database
- Source for 1914 British Open: www.theopen.com[permanent dead link]
- Source for 1914 British Amateur: Golf Illustrated, July, 1914, pgs. 22-34.
- Source for 1921 British Amateur: The American Golfer, June 4, 1921, pg. 24.
- Source for 1923 British Amateur: The American Golfer, July, 1923, pgs. 48 & 50.
- Source for 1926 British Amateur: The American Golfer, July, 1926, pg. 58.
- Source for 1930 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, May 30, 1930, pg. 13.
- Source for 1934 British Amateur: The American Golfer, July, 1934, pg. 16.
- Source for 1938 British Amateur: Time, June 6, 1938
- Source for 1941 Masters: www.masters.com
- Source for 1947 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, May 30, 1947, pg. 5.
- Source for 1949 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, May 25, 1949, pg. 2.
- Source for 1950 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, May 25, 1950, pg. 9.
External links
- Francis Ouimet Biography from the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund
- Francis Ouimet at the World Golf Hall of Fame
- 1913 U.S. Open by Bernard Darwin
- Electronic Resources From SoHG Archives
- Hagen Swing Sequences – Brassie, Iron and Putt From SoHG Master Classes
- Francis Ouimet at Find a Grave