LYNN — Francis Ouimet is considered the “father of amateur golf.” And for good reason.
Ouimet was a Brookline native and played a lot of golf at The Country Club, where the U.S. Open was held two weeks ago. In 1913, when he was 20, the Open was also held in Brookline, and Ouimet played in it — and won, becoming the first amateur in history to win the major tournament.
Another aspect of his victory is that he went up against several golfers from Great Britain who were favored to win it.
In 1949, his friends wanted to honor him by starting a scholarship fund in his name. Since then, more than $43 million in scholarship money has been awarded.
July 4 is the day Gannon Golf Course members can put their imprint on the fund. The Ouimet Scholarship Tournament will be held, and $10 out of every entry fee goes to the fund. Chairman Tom Fabrizio estimates that the club donates $2,500 to it each year.
The scholarship goes to high school students who have worked for two years at the course in any capacity, Fabrizio said. If those boys and girls are eligible academically, their names will be put in for nomination and they will be interviewed by the scholarship committee. Fabrizio says that several students from the course have won scholarships.
Also happening at Gannon this weekend is the Senior Ladies Club Championship, open to women 60 and up. Ann Dawson will be defending her title. The format will be straight medal play, with the low score after 36 holes the winner.
Also, Ben Friedman and Dave Stevens from Gannon qualified to move on to the championship round of the Mass Amateur Public Links event being played at Sandy Burr in August.
