America's first golf hero: Francis Ouimet and the 1913 U.S. Open.

Introduction

Golf is currently riding a crest of popularity in the United States. In 2006, 28.7 million golfers played the game on nearly 16,000 courses across the country. (1) The golf economy in 2005 was $76 billion, including $6 billion spent on equipment and supplies. The total economic impact of golf on the U.S. economy that year was $195 billion. (2) In addition, television ratings for golf have soared over the last dozen years. That trend shows little sign of changing anytime soon when one takes note of the television ratings for the Monday playoff round of the 2008 U.S. Open, which were the highest ever for golf on cable television) As a consequence, golf's Tiger Woods now ranks as America's favorite athlete. (4) This growth in both interest and participation in golf is quite significant since the sport only took hold in the United States just over a century ago. To be sure, a few golf clubs were formed in the United States as early as the 1780s, but none survived. Then, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, three events led to golf's firm entrenchment in the pantheon of American sports. In 1888, the first permanent golf club was established. This was accompanied by the formation of the first governing body of golf in the United States. (5) The biggest boost to the sport, however, came when Francis Ouimet, a young Bostonian, won the 1913 U.S. Open. Ouimet's accomplishment gave America its first golf hero. This study examines how the media celebrated Ouimet's feat by portraying the former caddy as a national icon which, in turn, boosted the popularity of golf in the United States.

The Apple Tree Gang

John Reid, a transplanted Scotsman living in Yonkers, New York, spent his leisure time participating in field sports such as hunting and shooting. Reid, however, grew tired of such pursuits and wanted to try something different. He had seen golf played in Scotland and decided to try his hand at the game. So, when Robert Lockhart, a friend of Reid's, returned to Great Britain on business in 1887, Reid asked him to send back some golf equipment. Lockhart travelled to the St. Andrews Golf Club in Scotland and purchased from Old Tom Morris, the most celebrated professional golfer of the day, several golf clubs and balls, which he then sent to Reid. (6)

In February 1888, Reid set out to test his skill at golf. He set up a three-hole course in a pasture across from his home and invited some friends to participate in a game. Reid and John Upham played against one another since there were not enough clubs for everyone to participate. Score was not kept but the game generated enough interest and enjoyment to cause Reid to order additional clubs and balls. (7)

Eventually, Reid expanded his golf course to six holes, and throughout the summer of 1888 golf became a regular event for Reid and his friends. In mid-November, they formed the St. Andrew's Golf Club, which marked the official beginning of golf in the United States. (8) Reid and his friends formed the club to ensure that they could continue to enjoy their outings on the golf course. The club allowed them to share expenses, and it served as a means to promote interest in the game. (9)

In April 1892, the course was moved to an apple orchard where a six-hole course was constructed, and the golfers from Yonkers became known as the "Apple Tree Gang." As club membership increased, expansion of the course became an issue. Some members believed that an apple orchard was hardly the best location for a golf course, which paled in comparison to two other courses in the New York area and two eighteen-hole courses in Chicago. Many of the club's new members believed that St. Andrew's should set the standard for building golf courses. (10)