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Book celebrates amateur's triumph
Posted: Saturday April 12
By John Boyette
The Augusta Chronicle
Francis Ouimet's landmark victory in the 1913 U.S. Open has been documented over the years as one of sport's greatest accomplishments.
The unheralded amateur took on two of the game's top professionals at a golf course across the street from where he grew up, and he won.
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The Greatest Game Ever Played won an endorsement this week from Masters competition committee Chairman Will Nicholson. SPECIAL |
Francis Ouimet's landmark victory in the 1913 U.S. Open has been documented over the years as one of sport's greatest accomplishments.
The unheralded amateur took on two of the game's top professionals at a golf course across the street from where he grew up, and he won.
If the truth is stranger than fiction, then Ouimet's story is worth reading again. Author Mark Frost brings Ouimet and Harry Vardon, not to mention countless others, to life in his fascinating book.
The Greatest Game Ever Played goes well beyond the actual tournament, which was held at The Country Club in the Boston suburb of Brookline, Mass.
It actually begins two decades earlier with fascinating details of Vardon's struggle to become the game's top professional, his tours of the United States and his role in the development of the modern game.
By the time Vardon and Ted Ray, his traveling companion, reach The Country Club for the U.S. Open, young Ouimet is already an accomplished player. But no one believes he's ready to take on the game's established stars.
The cast of characters on hand for the 1913 U.S. Open was not limited to the principal trio. Walter Hagen, golf writer Bernard Darwin and caddie Eddie Lowery are just some of the individuals who were witnesses to Ouimet's triumph.
The book even got a plug this week at the Masters Tournament by Will Nicholson, the chairman of the tournament's competition committee.
Much of the 1913 U.S. Open was played in terrible weather, complete with heavy rain and muddy conditions. When a question arose this week whether players in the Masters would be allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls, Nicholson referred to the book.
"We believe that's the traditional way to play the game, and that's the way we intend to play the game. And if you haven't done it, and you think about playing in the rain, read that book The Greatest Game Ever Played," Nicholson said. "And they played in some horrible weather. I'll push that book; it's a great book. And I'm not getting any royalties."
It would be hard to draw up a modern equivalent to Ouimet's victory, but an amateur defeating Tiger Woods in the Masters might be an apt comparison.
Through two rounds, amateur Ricky Barnes was doing just that; he was among four players to break par for 36 holes. The reigning U.S. Amateur champion was well ahead of Woods.
Ouimet, who remained an amateur all his life, made one appearance at the Masters. He shot 82 in the opening round of the 1941 Masters, then withdrew.
BOOK: The Greatest Game Ever Played: Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet and the Birth of Modern Golf
AUTHOR: Mark Frost
PUBLISHER: Hyperion
COST: $30
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