1893-1967
Amateur Golf Champion

A Golfer for the Common Man.

Until Francis Ouimet, a young man of working-class origins, won the U.S. Open Golf Tournament in 1913, golf had been seen as a sport for the privileged classes in the United States. His victory gave the sport mass appeal and transformed it into popular recreational activity.

Beginnings as a Caddy.

The youngest of Louis Ouimet's two sons, Francis was born 8 May 1893 in Brookline, Massachusetts. His father, a French Canadian immigrant who worked as a gardener, moved his family into a house across the street from The Country Club, one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious country clubs. Francis and his brother, Wilfred, became caddies at The Country Club and, although the rules prohibited caddies from playing on the course, the Ouimet boys often sneaked in some practice strokes when Alex Campbell, the club pro, was...