Brookline Amateur Wins U.S. Open
On this day in 1913, at The Country Club in Brookline, 20-year-old Francis Ouimet became the first amateur to win the U.S. Open Golf Tournament. Growing up in an immigrant family across the street from the prestigious course, Ouimet taught himself to play, read everything he could lay his hands on, and carefully observed the players while he caddied for them. As a teenager, he would play solo rounds in weather too nasty for the members. The 1913 Open drew a larger crowd than any other previous golf match in the United States. When Ouimet beat his idol, British pro Harry Vardon, by five strokes to take the title, it changed the history of golf. In the decade that followed, the number of players in the country tripled.
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