Next month, we celebrate the 100th anniversary of what may be the most significant event in American history of the game of golf; a single event that changed American golfers' minds from the having the "underdog" attitude, to realizing that we had what it took to succeed: a dream, a plan and then action.... but the dream comes first, its a principle.
One hundred years ago, on the weekend of September 18-20 (in those days you had a practice-qualifying round, and then two days of 36 holes each), at the famed Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, a young of man, who at age 20 was barely a grownup boy, a dreamer who had dreamed of beating the greatest golfers in the world, became the first American amateur to win the United States Open Championship. The boy's name was Francis Ouimet.
Francis was a golfer at heart. In fact, in the local directory, his family's house listing at 246 Clyde St., across the Country Club, just under his father's name (a gardener), the listing read, "Francis Ouimet, golfer".
Francis was a caddy at the Country Club at a time when caddies were not allowed in the clubhouse, and were barely allowed in the premises... to carry a member's clubs. Francis was also a gardener with his dad and a sales clerk at a local sporting goods store. By all means, not a family of an income that could support the youngster's appetite for golf. And, as if that was not enough handicap, Francis' father did not want the lad to play golf at all, something that forced the golf loving Francis to tell some "white lies" so he could go play or practice.You could take Francis out of the golf course, but you could not take golf out of him!
In 1913, the two best golfers in the world, Ted Ray (British Open Champion in 1912 and U.S. Open Champion in 1920) and Harry Vardon (U.S. Open Champion in 1900 and British Open Champion in 1896, 1898, 1899, 1903, 1911, 1914), were coming back, mainly to increase the odds of returning the trophy to the motherland, as, in 1911 and 1912, with a weak field, John McDermott, a young American professional, had been the first American to win the U.S. Open, something the English did not want to see, thus, both greats made plans to come and reclaim a cup they thought belonged in England. Furthermore, the tournament was moved to September to accommodate the two great professional golfers so they could book some exhibitions around their tournament schedule.Francis had to go and practice at odd times and when he finally qualified for the tournament, he wasn't in anyone's list of favorites, so all the experienced caddies were taken. Enter Eddie Lowery, a 10 year old vivacious and confident boy who volunteered to be Francis' caddy.
As fate would have it, and against all odds, after 72 holes, Francis Ouimet was tied for the championship with none other than Ted Ray and Harry Vardon, which required a Sunday playoff. The powerful and rich members who at first made fun of a caddy entering the Open were now believers, and now wanted Ouimet to have the best odds in the playoff so they offered him the most experienced caddy for the playoff, something Ouimet refused... rather strongly. Francis went on to win the playoff with great putting. He shot a 72 against Vardon's 77 and Ray's 79. Vardon was truly a gentleman when asked about the playoff round, saying, "we never had a chance, Francis played splendid golf and putted like a magician. He deserves the trophy and he is a great champion".
The result of Francis' dream of pursuing championship golf, and his appreciation to his loyal caddy, was not only a "nice" story and the theme for the movie "The Greatest Game Ever Played", but it was truly the genesis of other dreamers... Jones, Sarazen, Nelson, Hogan, Snead, Venturi, Harvey Ward, Baby Dickerson Zaharias, Palmer, Nicklaus, Trevino, Watson, Mickelson, then Tiger and Rory and now Jordan Spieth, and who knows, a Joby, a Logan, an Anya or others who truly love the game and dream big. All those who dream of beating someone's record, all those who dream of succeeding at what they do, whether it is sports or other, and do not quit in the middle of their pursuit, eventually reap the rewards of their dream.
Dreams come true, and next month, we celebrate 100 years of how one young man's dream changed American golf. When you play your next round, or when you watch your next tournament, and someone is beating someone's record, or someone just won his first tournament, remember Francis.
(Note: if you want to read a great story about golf, read "The Match", a story of a match that pitted Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson against the two best amateurs of the 50's, Ken Venturi and Harvey Ward. The match was played at Cypress Point and was sponsored by none other than Bing Crosby and a car dealership owner and millionaire Eddie Lowery... yes, the same Eddie Lowery who caddied, 100 years ago, for Francis Ouimet).