Lesson 2: Francis Ouimet Changes Everything
Everything1888–1930
The story of Francis Ouimet at the 1913 US Open is one of the great underdog stories in sports history — and it changed American golf permanently.
Ouimet was 20 years old, an amateur, and had grown up across the street from The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts — caddying there as a boy while wealthy members played. He entered the 1913 US Open almost on a whim.
The heavy favorites were Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, two legendary English professionals who had come to America specifically to win. Nobody gave Ouimet a realistic chance. But at the end of 72 holes, all three were tied. In the playoff, Ouimet shot 72 to Vardon’s 77 and Ray’s 78.
The story made front pages across America. A working-class kid from across the street had beaten the world’s best. Golf, previously seen as a game for the wealthy elite, suddenly felt accessible. Ouimet’s victory triggered a wave of golf participation that transformed the sport from a pastime of the privileged into America’s game.
Francis Ouimet’s 1913 US Open victory over English professionals opened golf to ordinary Americans, triggering a wave of national participation.
Ouimet was a caddie who beat the players whose bags he used to carry. What does this tell us about the relationship between skill and social class? Are there places in modern golf where similar inequalities still exist?
Find a newspaper account of the 1913 US Open playoff — original newspaper archives are available online through the Library of Congress. Read a few paragraphs. Write a 200-word analysis: how does the newspaper describe Ouimet? What language does it use? What does the coverage reveal about how Americans saw golf before Ouimet, and how they might see it after?