The US Open on HooperstarGolfer.blogspot.co.uk is telling the story of the National Championship of the United States of America through its many 18-hole play-offs and the great head-to-head duels in its storied history and what better way to begin our travels through time than at the 1913 United States Open?
The world's greatest golfer and one of his challengers, America's number one golfer and an outsider of the biggest proportions all contending for one of the two great championships of the world at the first club of its kind. The 1913 Open will be forever known as the birth of golf as a mass participation sport in the United States, the extraordinary happenings that week in September 100 years ago sparked the first great golfing boom in America. The numbers of courses built trebled and the number of golfers doubled following Francis Ouimet's upset victory over Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, the win by the 20-year-old caddie captured the imagination of the media and public and changed the face of golf in the United States forever.
Ouimet was the song of two immigrants (French-Canadian father and Irish mother) and grew up in a house on Clyde Street opposite The Country Club in Brookline, a suburban town to the east of Boston, Massachusetts. The town had a population of approximately 30,000 in 1913 and was a perfect location for a Country Club for men from the city of Boston to come and relax, socialize and play the relatively new game of golf. The Country Club was the first private club in the United States for exclusively outdoor activities and was founded in 1882, the golf course was built in 1893 and the club was one of five clubs to establish the United States Golf Association in 1894.
Ouimet's family were underprivileged and as such were not welcome to join or participate in activities at The Country Club, but at the age of 9 he began caddying on the golf course and then progressed to sneaking out onto the course to play and taught himself the game of golf. He soon rose to become the best high school golfer in the state. Ouimet faced many barriers though to progress with his burgeoning career in golf, among them was the attitude of his own father who insisted he should do something "more useful", as well as the class issue and the attitude of the aristocratic membership of The Country Club. But he received a break in 1913 when Robert Watson, president of the U.S.G.A. asked him personally if he would play in the US Open following his quarter-final defeat in the recent US Amateur Championship. Ouimet's then employer, George Wright Sporting Goods, allowed him the time off to compete in the championship, which had been moved to September from June to enable Britain's best golfers including the likes of Harry Vardon and Ted Ray to compete. Ouimet was set for his first appearance in the National Championship and to compete alongside the greats of the game.
Harry Vardon had won the 1900 US Open and five Open Championships and is accredited with being the first touring professional in the world, he embarked on a large tour of the United States in 1900 playing over 80 matches across the country. Vardon also had an underprivileged upbringing in Jersey, an island south of the English coast in the channel and he again was taking part in an activity which aroused the disapproval of his father. Harry and his brother Tom left Jersey to seek work in England and continue their careers in golf, Harry became a greenkeeper in Yorkshire and developed a vigorous practice regime which would enable him to fulfil his potential. Vardon soon became a prolific winner and at the age of 26 he won his first Open Championship in 1896, he would go on to win two more Opens before his tour of America made him the golfing superstar of his time. His tour would culminate in winning the 1900 US Open and in the next decade he would dominate the game winning over 50 tournaments including 14 consecutively and an additional two Open Championships. He came to The Country Club as overwhelming favourite despite not having won a US Open in 13 years or Open in 2.
The remaining challenge from across the Atlantic came in the shape of Ted Ray, Jim Barnes and Macdonald Smith. Ray was the reigning Open champion and was playing in his first United States Open, he was also from Jersey and seven years younger than Vardon - the two had much the same relationship that both Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy enjoy today. Barnes was 27 and would go on to have a superb career winning five major titles including a then record nine-shot win in the 1921 US Open and a 21-year-old Macdonald Smith would also feature, he would win 24 times on the PGA Tour but no majors.
The American challenge would be led by the 1911 and 1912 US Open champion John McDermott who was the first ever American to win the championship some 16 years after it was first played. Born in Pennsylvania McDermott showed prodigious talent at a young age, winning several local professional tournaments before springing to national prominence at the 1910 US Open where he lost in a 3-way 18-hole play-off.
These would be the key characters in an epic story which would unfold over three days in September 1913.
The format of the US Open in 1913 required two rounds to be played on each day of the championship, Thursday and Friday. In the first two rounds Ouimet played with Karl Keffer (1906 Canadian Open champion), Ouimet had caddied for Keffer in one of The Country Club's matches against The Royal Montreal Golf Club and now he was competing alongside him in the biggest championship they could play in. Rounds of 77 and 74 saw Francis safely through to the final two rounds, inside the cut mark of 165 and sat just five shots adrift of the leaders Harry Vardon and Wilfried Reid.
Ted Ray was two shots behind the lead in third place after rounds of 79 and 70 put him in contention. The second and final day of the championship was to be played in torrential rain which remained over the Brookline area all day. The heavy rain even meant a rule had to be amended to allow plugged balls on the green to be loosened by a referee. Rounds of 74 and 79 took Ouimet's four round total to 304 and into an unlikely tie for the lead with Vardon and Ray after 72 holes. The atmosphere was electric and a gallery of an estimated 10,000 people were cheering on the underdog and local boy.
From 1913usopen.com
Sunday September 20, 1913 is the date and the United States Open is set to be decided in a three-man play-off featuring arguably the two greatest golfers in the game, Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, and a 20-year-old amateur, golf caddie and working class outsider, Francis Ouimet. Imagine the wild media hype and the public anticipation if next Monday we had an 18-hole play-off between Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, and then throw in an amateur who caddied at Merion and was 20 years of age. It would be suffocating and dramatic in the extreme.
Then go beyond the anticipation and excitement of it happening to actually dare to believe the 20-year-old amateur golf caddie could actually defeat the greatest in the world. That is incredibly what happened 100 years ago as Ouimet shot 72 to Vardon's 77 and Ray's 78. After the lead swapped a couple of times on the front nine between Ouimet and Vardon the trio all stood on the 10th tee (82nd hole of the week) tied for the lead. 9 holes of the play-off to go and still no indication as to who would lift the trophy. Ouimet was not letting up, he was not going to go away. In fact a three on the 10th, four on the 11th and four on the 12th gave the youngster a two stroke lead with 6 holes to play.
Francis Ouimet played a back nine of 1-under-par in comparison to a five-over and six-over-par rounds from Harry Vardon and Ted Ray respectively, Ouimet hadn't just beaten the best in the world head-to-head. He had smashed them, he had outplayed and outclassed them in the greatest championship of all.
As a sporting achievement it was an epic success. But in terms of the impact it had upon changing the face of golf in America it was truly seismic. "Golf in the United States is the amusement of the well-to-do classes alone. The poor man has no place as yet among American golfers and the sport remains as distinctly exclusive as is polo or yachting"
Following his win the game changed in America forever, and he laid the foundations for the likes of Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen, and Hogan, Snead and Nelson after them, who in turn took American golf to a new level of popularity. Then it was the turn of Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus and then Tiger Woods. The 1913 US Open created the first golfing boom in America, largely due to Ouimet's victory and it can be argued had he achieved it over 72-holes the significance of his win would have less than it was by beating the best in the world head-to-head in an 18-hole play-off. It was the third three-man play-off in four years of the US Open and one of 33 18-hole play-offs in US Open history, a tradition which I believe to be part of what makes this championship so unique in many ways.
Tomorrow: 1994 Oakmont and 2008 Torrey Pines US Open's
Ouimet was the song of two immigrants (French-Canadian father and Irish mother) and grew up in a house on Clyde Street opposite The Country Club in Brookline, a suburban town to the east of Boston, Massachusetts. The town had a population of approximately 30,000 in 1913 and was a perfect location for a Country Club for men from the city of Boston to come and relax, socialize and play the relatively new game of golf. The Country Club was the first private club in the United States for exclusively outdoor activities and was founded in 1882, the golf course was built in 1893 and the club was one of five clubs to establish the United States Golf Association in 1894.Ouimet's family were underprivileged and as such were not welcome to join or participate in activities at The Country Club, but at the age of 9 he began caddying on the golf course and then progressed to sneaking out onto the course to play and taught himself the game of golf. He soon rose to become the best high school golfer in the state. Ouimet faced many barriers though to progress with his burgeoning career in golf, among them was the attitude of his own father who insisted he should do something "more useful", as well as the class issue and the attitude of the aristocratic membership of The Country Club. But he received a break in 1913 when Robert Watson, president of the U.S.G.A. asked him personally if he would play in the US Open following his quarter-final defeat in the recent US Amateur Championship. Ouimet's then employer, George Wright Sporting Goods, allowed him the time off to compete in the championship, which had been moved to September from June to enable Britain's best golfers including the likes of Harry Vardon and Ted Ray to compete. Ouimet was set for his first appearance in the National Championship and to compete alongside the greats of the game.
Harry Vardon had won the 1900 US Open and five Open Championships and is accredited with being the first touring professional in the world, he embarked on a large tour of the United States in 1900 playing over 80 matches across the country. Vardon also had an underprivileged upbringing in Jersey, an island south of the English coast in the channel and he again was taking part in an activity which aroused the disapproval of his father. Harry and his brother Tom left Jersey to seek work in England and continue their careers in golf, Harry became a greenkeeper in Yorkshire and developed a vigorous practice regime which would enable him to fulfil his potential. Vardon soon became a prolific winner and at the age of 26 he won his first Open Championship in 1896, he would go on to win two more Opens before his tour of America made him the golfing superstar of his time. His tour would culminate in winning the 1900 US Open and in the next decade he would dominate the game winning over 50 tournaments including 14 consecutively and an additional two Open Championships. He came to The Country Club as overwhelming favourite despite not having won a US Open in 13 years or Open in 2.
The remaining challenge from across the Atlantic came in the shape of Ted Ray, Jim Barnes and Macdonald Smith. Ray was the reigning Open champion and was playing in his first United States Open, he was also from Jersey and seven years younger than Vardon - the two had much the same relationship that both Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy enjoy today. Barnes was 27 and would go on to have a superb career winning five major titles including a then record nine-shot win in the 1921 US Open and a 21-year-old Macdonald Smith would also feature, he would win 24 times on the PGA Tour but no majors.
The American challenge would be led by the 1911 and 1912 US Open champion John McDermott who was the first ever American to win the championship some 16 years after it was first played. Born in Pennsylvania McDermott showed prodigious talent at a young age, winning several local professional tournaments before springing to national prominence at the 1910 US Open where he lost in a 3-way 18-hole play-off.
These would be the key characters in an epic story which would unfold over three days in September 1913.
Ted Ray was two shots behind the lead in third place after rounds of 79 and 70 put him in contention. The second and final day of the championship was to be played in torrential rain which remained over the Brookline area all day. The heavy rain even meant a rule had to be amended to allow plugged balls on the green to be loosened by a referee. Rounds of 74 and 79 took Ouimet's four round total to 304 and into an unlikely tie for the lead with Vardon and Ray after 72 holes. The atmosphere was electric and a gallery of an estimated 10,000 people were cheering on the underdog and local boy.
From 1913usopen.com
"The scenes that attended Ouimet's march over the last four holes have never been equalled on an American or European golf course." The Washington Post September 20, 1913
What a day, Louis Tellier has the lead with 9 holes to go and slips back, Reid drops from contention in his 1st six holes, Ray catches Vardon, and Ouimet catches them both by shooting a morning round 74 and birding 17 when it really mattered.
By evening the buzz in the Boston area was reaching a fever pitch. In the working class bars through out the area "Did ya' hear about that caddie in Brookline taking down all those rich folks at their own game ? He's in some kind of playoff tomorrow with a couple of 'em and I'll be there." On Beacon Hill you might have heard "How about that young gentleman from Brookline teaching those golfing professionals how to play. There's going to be a play off tomorrow I think I'll attend." And from Springfield to Dedham, Lawrence to New Bedford "What do you think of that kid over in Brookline tying those British guys at that game of golf they think they're so damn good at ? I got the feeling we're gonna' have another British Invasion repelled here in Boston. Better get up early tomorrow, not gonna' wanna' miss this." And in the neighborhood surrounding The Country Club and 246 Clyde Street, "Mary and Arthur's boy Francis seems to be doing quite well over at that big golf tournament, they say he's playing again tomorrow, perhaps we can stop by." Stop by they did.
No matter who you were, one of your own was going to be putting it on the line tomorrow and whether you could tell a golf ball from a fur ball you knew you wanted to be part of it.
Sunday September 20, 1913 is the date and the United States Open is set to be decided in a three-man play-off featuring arguably the two greatest golfers in the game, Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, and a 20-year-old amateur, golf caddie and working class outsider, Francis Ouimet. Imagine the wild media hype and the public anticipation if next Monday we had an 18-hole play-off between Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, and then throw in an amateur who caddied at Merion and was 20 years of age. It would be suffocating and dramatic in the extreme.
As a sporting achievement it was an epic success. But in terms of the impact it had upon changing the face of golf in America it was truly seismic. "Golf in the United States is the amusement of the well-to-do classes alone. The poor man has no place as yet among American golfers and the sport remains as distinctly exclusive as is polo or yachting"
Garden Smith
1912 The Royal & Ancient Game of Golf. (1913usopen.com)
1912 The Royal & Ancient Game of Golf. (1913usopen.com)
Following his win the game changed in America forever, and he laid the foundations for the likes of Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen, and Hogan, Snead and Nelson after them, who in turn took American golf to a new level of popularity. Then it was the turn of Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus and then Tiger Woods. The 1913 US Open created the first golfing boom in America, largely due to Ouimet's victory and it can be argued had he achieved it over 72-holes the significance of his win would have less than it was by beating the best in the world head-to-head in an 18-hole play-off. It was the third three-man play-off in four years of the US Open and one of 33 18-hole play-offs in US Open history, a tradition which I believe to be part of what makes this championship so unique in many ways.
Tomorrow: 1994 Oakmont and 2008 Torrey Pines US Open's
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