Francis Ouimet "no flash in the pan"
The American Golfer June 1912
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The great satisfaction of those who desire to see Massachusetts develop some golfers who can hold their own with the best in the country, that there is at least one young player who bids fair to develop such ability, namely, Francis Ouimet, the winner of the cup. This young player, who, it is understood, has yet to celebrate his twentieth birthday, is no "flash in the pan," as the saying goes. He has a sound style and finished strokes. Playing with greater apparent ease than almost any other golfer in the district, he lines out tee shots of from 200 to 260 yards with regularity and precision, straight down the line. His long irons are accurate, the same with his mashie and mashie niblick, together with the delicacy of stroke and judgment on the short distances which marks the really first class golfer. As a rule, he is a good putter, and a bold one, although he has his lapses on the greens, such as when he failed to qualify in the national championship at Apawamis last fall solely on this account. Once a caddy at the Country Club, he now is to have his name inscribed on the most famous trophy in the Massachusetts District, and not a member begrudges him that honor, for he played by far the best golf in the tournament, and it was distinctly in line with his form all through the spring season. He had the leading score in the qualifying round of the open tournament at Wollaston, where his 74 was six strokes better than the card of any other player. |
It might be remarked, in passing, that the
strength of Mr. Ouimet's play with his irons comes from a severe schooling. In
his younger days he was wont to practice with one of his brothers on a piece of
swamp land, in which there were a few spots of what might be termed "island
greens." Failure to land the ball on one of these oases generally meant a
lost ball. The draw for the match play in the Country Club cup tournament put
Mr. Ouimet in the harder half, though he did not have to play in the first round
because three of those who were to play off for the last two places did not
appear on the first morning of match play, and he drew a bye.
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In the second round, Mr. Ouimet disposed of an exceedingly promising young player, Mr. Heinrich Schmidt, of Worcester; Mr. Chick won from Mr. Clarkson and Mr. B. E. Jones, of Concord, who has been the "dark horse" of Massachusetts play this season, won from Mr. George H. Crocker, who for his years is equal to any golfer in the country to-day. The real match of the tournament, in its bearing upon the cup, was between Mr. Ouimet and Mr. Chick, in the semi-final. Mr. Ouimet gave evidence at the third hole of who was going to win this match, and the tournament, when he reached the green, 405 yards, with an exceedingly fine brassey shot, following a moderate drive, and holed a putt for a three. The other feature of the outward round was at the fifth hole, where Mr. Chick, after putting his second shot into a bunker 50 yards from the hole, played his third 15 feet from the cup and holed a 4. Mr. Ouimet, who was 10 feet from the hole in 3, also sank his putt for a 4. The pair were even at the turn and Mr. Chick took the lead at the short tenth with a 3 to 4, Mr. Ouimet confronting a stymie on his putt. Beginning the eleventh with a drive of 275 yards, Mr. Ouimet took that hole, and the next three in a row, the fourteenth a stroke under par. They halved the next two holes and the match was over. Mr. Ouimet played the bye holes and scored a 76. |
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In the final, Mr. Bass, who is one of the best left-handed players in the country to-day, was a shade off form and had an unusual number of poor lies to contend with, so that Mr. Ouimet won by 7 and 5. He did the fifth hole two strokes under par and the twelfth one under and was a stroke better than his morning score when the match ended.