09/02/2026
He lived across the street from the golf course, and in September 1913 he beat the two best players in the world on it with a ten year old carrying his bag. ⛳
Francis Ouimet was twenty, the son of French Canadian and Irish immigrant parents, and he worked in a sporting goods shop in Boston. He had grown up at 246 Clyde Street in Brookline, directly opposite The Country Club, and had learned the game by knocking balls around a makeshift three hole layout in the field behind the house and by caddying. He entered the U.S. Open only after his employer was persuaded to give him the time off.
The championship was supposed to belong to Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, the two great British professionals, over on tour. Instead all three finished on 304 and went to an eighteen hole playoff on a wet Saturday. 🌧️
Ouimet's caddie was Eddie Lowery, ten years old, who had skipped school for the week and had to dodge a truant officer to be there. Lowery carried the bag, told him to keep his eye on the ball and not look up, and refused to be replaced when an older caddie was offered. Ouimet shot 72 to Vardon's 77 and Ray's 78, in front of a soaked crowd of thousands running between shots. 🏌️
American golf had roughly 350,000 players before that afternoon. Within a decade it had around two million, and it had stopped being a game imported from Britain for people with money.
One local kid, one small caddie and one wet Saturday changed who the sport belonged to. What single afternoon do you think opened something up for everybody who came after?
