Francis Ouimet played one round at The Masters

It’s Masters week! That means things will be a little busier than usual. I have a few newsletters planned that will highlight some Bay State connections to The Masters, along with general thoughts, a preview podcast, and interesting links as the week progresses.

Paid subscribers get access to everything I write this week, and their support allows me to dig into stories like the one below about Francis Ouimet shooting an 82 in the 1941 Masters, which unofficially started a tradition that continues today at Augusta National.

Francis Ouimet played one round at The Masters

Over the last 62 editions of The Masters, legends of the game have stuck a tee in the ground and hit the ceremonial opening tee shot to officially start the tournament on Thursday morning.

This week, Chairman Fred Ridley will invite Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Tom Watson to the first tee as the Honorary Starters.

Back in 1963, Jock Hutchison and Fred McLeod were the first players to fulfill this request. Neither gentleman won The Masters. Hutchinson played once in 1941 and finished in 43rd place. The Scotsman did win the 1920 PGA Championship and the 1921 Open Championship. McLeod was the 1908 U.S. Open champion at Myopia Hunt Club in S. Hamilton, Massachusetts.

While the ceremony was made official in 1963, the tradition unofficially began in 1941 when Francis Ouimet and Walter Hagen played together in the opening round. They did not just hit one shot and get out of the way. No, they played the entire round.

By 1941, Ouimet was 28 years removed from his stunning win in the 1913 U.S. Open at The Country Club. That win famously, even before YouTube, helped the game explode in the United States.

According to the USGA, 350,000 Americans played golf in 1913. Over the next decade, that number ballooned to 2 million.

BOBBY JONES AND FRANCIS OUIMET

At the time of Ouimet’s victory, Bobby Jones was just 11 years old, but the admiration had already begun.

“As a boy in Atlanta, I waited for the paper to read about Francis’ playoff against Vardon and Ray,” Jones said decades later. “From that time on, he has been an idol of mine. When an idol endures for 40 to 45 years, you know he must have a special quality. There have been many great golfers since Ouimet, but none who gave more to the game.”

Jones and Ouimet met in numerous championships over the next two decades, including four times in the U.S. Amateur. Jones would defeat Ouimet three times in four matches.

• 1920 U.S. Amateur: Ouimet defeated Jones.

• 1924 U.S. Amateur: Jones defeated Ouimet.

• 1926 U.S. Amateur: Jones defeated Ouimet.

• 1927 U.S. Amateur: Jones defeated Ouimet.

Bobby Jones marked the loss to Ouimet in 1920 at Engineers Country Club in the semi-final as “the end of his boyhood.” And it was all because of a bee. Yes, a bee.

Subscribe to Supporter to read the rest.