“IN PLAY WITH JIMMY ROBERTS” on Golf Channel produced the above segment on Francis Ouimet’s improbable playoff victory over British titans Harry Vardon and Ted Ray at the 1913 U.S. Open.
“He was a nobody,” said Mark Frost, author of The Greatest Game Ever Played. “And he had this irrepressible sidekick, this 10-year-old, Eddie Lowery, who he picked up as his caddie …. And together they were irresistible.”
Photo gallery of 1913 U.S. Open Reenactment
Ouimet, of course, was a 20-year-old amateur. Vardon and Ray were professionals. One David against two Goliaths, as Jack Nicklaus read from a newspaper account in the segment. (Arnold Palmer also makes a cameo appearance.) Ouimet’s stunning win helped popularize golf in America.
Last Saturday The Country Club, the site of Ouimet’s historic victory, hosted a reenactment of the 18-hole playoff. More than 250 people attended dressed in 1913 attire. John Dean, a Cornell University golfer, played Ouimet. Scott Dabney, a 1, was Vardon. Robert Manice portrayed the large and colorful Ted Ray. James Sanford, a club caddie, played the role of Lowery.
Ouimet won again, and all three players made their 1913 speeches on the clubhouse steps.