Francis Ouimet, son of immigrant parents, grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts, living next to the 17th hole of "The Country Club." At a time when golf was reserved for the wealthy, Ouimet started caddying at age of nine. Using clubs from his brother and golf balls he found around the course, he taught himself the game, eventually catching the eye of club members.
Although Francis became the best high school golfer in the state, his father insisted he drop out of the sport and "do something useful" with his life. So he tried awhile, working at a dry goods store and later a sporting goods store. But he also kept playing and improving his game.
In 1913, Ouimet won a major amateur tournament and was invited to play in the U. S. Open which would be played that year at the course next door he knew best, "The Country Club." In what is considered the greatest golf match ever played, amateur golfer Francis Ouimet won that coveted tournament, besting favored British pro golfers, Ted Ray and Harry Vardon.
In that tournament, Ouimet was twenty years old and stood six feet two inches. His caddy and friend Eddy Lowrey was less than five feet tall and only ten years old! They remained lifelong friends, and their story is the basis for Mark Frost's, The Greatest Game Ever Played.
Ouimet remained in golf his entire life, winning several more amateur tournaments, being elected into several golf halls of fame and honored by his many PGA friends. The "Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund," funded over the years by PGA golfers, has given $25 million in aid to over 5,000 young caddys, including Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Annika Sorenstam.
Francis Ouimet's portrait is on a U.S. postage stamp, and his 1913 U.S. Open victory was the basis for a Walt Disney movie. He served as an Army Lieutenant during World War One and was married to Stella Sullivan nearly fifty years. He is the only American ever elected captain of St. Andrew's Royal Golf Club of Scotland. Despite many offers to turn pro, Ouimet retained his amateur golf status all through life.
This year is the one hundredth anniversary of Francis Ouimet's historic win. If he had followed his father's advice to "do something useful," he would have been an unknown among the millions of workers in business or industry. Instead, he followed his heart and became a legend in the history of sports.
Thanks be to God we live in free nation where we can use the gifts God gives us.
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