FIRST - American Golf Hero - St. Augustine, FL
N 29° 59.473 W 081° 28.204
17R E 454658 N 3317905
A statue of Francis D. Ouimet located outside the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Florida, USA, identifies him as America's first golf hero. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.
Waymark Code: WM9X4Y
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 10/09/2010
Views: 3
The statue depicts Ouimet at the U.S. Open with his 10-year-old caddy, Eddie Lowery. This is one of the best known iconic images American golf; it was used as the logo for the U.S. Golf Association's Centennial celebrations. A plaque on the wall near the statue states "His astounding victory over the British greats Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in a playoff for the 1913 U.S. Open Championship at the County Club, Brookline, Mass., transformed golf into a popular sport."
From Wikipedia:
"Francis DeSales Ouimet (May 8, 1893 – September 3, 1967) was an American golfer. He is widely known for winning the 1913 U.S. Open, and was the first American elected Captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. He married Stella M. Sullivan on September 11, 1918, with whom he had two daughters: Jane Salvi and Barbara McLean.
Effect on U.S. golf
Ouimet's U.S. Open success is credited for bringing golf into the American sporting mainstream. Before his surprising win over Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, golf was dominated by British players. In America, the sport was restricted to players with access to private facilities. There were very few public courses (the first, Van Cortlandt Golf Course in The Bronx borough of New York City, had opened in 1895). Ten years after his 1913 victory the number of American players had tripled and many new courses had been built, including numerous public ones.
One of Ouimet's greatest continuing contributions to the game of golf is the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund. Since its founding in 1949, the Fund has awarded over $20.5 million in need based college tuition assistance to young people who have given at least two years of service to golf as caddies or worked in pro shop or course superintendent operations in Massachusetts."
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