<P> Francis DeSales Ouimet (May 8, 1893--September 2, 1967) was an American amateur golfer who is frequently referred to as the "father of amateur golf" in the United States . He won the U.S. Open in 1913 and was the first non-Briton elected Captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews . He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974 . </P> <P> Ouimet was born to Mary Ellen Burke and Arthur Ouimet in Brookline, Massachusetts, a suburb southwest of Boston . His father was a French - Canadian immigrant, and his mother was originally from Ireland . When Francis was four years old, his family purchased a house on Clyde Street in Brookline, directly across from the 17th hole of The Country Club . The Ouimet family grew up relatively poor and were near the bottom of the economic ladder, which was hardly the position of any American golfer at the time . As far as the general public was concerned, amateur golf was reserved for the wealthy, while professional golf provided competition and income for former caddies, prohibited by the USGA from caddying after the age of 16 or lose their amateur status . Ouimet became interested in golf at an early age and started caddying at The Country Club at the age of 11 . Using clubs from his brother and balls he found around the course, he taught himself to play . His game soon caught the eye of many country club members and caddie master Dan MacNamara . It wasn't long before Ouimet was the best high school golfer in the state . When he was a junior in high school, his father insisted that he drop out and do "something useful" with his life . Ouimet worked at a drygoods store before landing a job at a sporting goods store owned by future Baseball Hall of Famer George Wright . </P> <P> In 1913, Ouimet won his first significant title at age 20, the Massachusetts Amateur, an event he won five more times . He participated in the U.S. Amateur at the Garden City Golf Club in Long Island, New York in early September, losing in the quarterfinals to the eventual champion, Jerome Travers . Soon after, he was asked personally by the president of the United States Golf Association, Robert Watson, if he would play in the national professional championship, the 1913 U.S. Open, which had been postponed to mid-September from its original June dates to allow for the participation of British golfers Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, both of Jersey . Vardon had won the U.S. Open in 1900 and The Open Championship five times to that point . Ray had won the Open Championship in 1912 . The 1913 event was played at the course Ouimet knew best, The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts . Ouimet originally declined to play, having just returned from an absence from work to play in the National Amateur . His participation in the Open was soon arranged, however, with the cooperation of his employer . </P> <P> It was Ouimet's first appearance in the championship . Eddie Lowery was his ten year old caddie . After 72 holes of regulation play ended in a three - way tie, Ouimet, Vardon, and Ray engaged in an 18 - hole playoff the next day in rainy conditions . Ouimet won the playoff at one - under - par for the day, beating Vardon by 5 strokes and Ray by 6 . His victory was widely hailed as a stunning upset over the strongly favored British, who were regarded as the top two golfers in the world . He was the first amateur to win the U.S. Open . The biggest crowds ever seen in American golf followed the playoff, and his achievement was front - page news across the country . </P>

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