Francis Ouimet /

Francis DeSales Ouimet (May 8, 1893 – September 2, 1967) was an American golfer. He won the 1913 U.S. Open, and was the first American elected Captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. He was born on May 8, 1893 to Mary Ellen Burke and Arthur Ouimet in Brookline, Massachusetts. His father was a French-Canadian immigrant, and his mother was an Irish immigrant. When Francis was four years old, his family purchased a house on Clyde Street in Brookline, directly across from the 17th hole of The Country Club. The Ouimet family grew up relatively poor, and found themselves near the bottom of the economic ladder, which was hardly the position of any American golfer at the time. As far as the general public was concerned, golf was reserved for the wealthy. Ouimet found an interest in golf at an early age and started caddying at The Country Club at the age of nine. Using clubs from his brother and balls he found around the course, Ouimet taught himself the game. Soon enough his game caught the eye of many country club members and the caddie master. It wasn't long before Ouimet was the best high school golfer in the