A True American Classic

The 1913 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, certainly was worthy of having a book written about it as it is one of the greatest events in American sports history, and I wouldn’t hesitate to say that it was an important event in American history in general. There is no doubt that many writers could have written a solid account of this event, but what makes Mark Frost’s The Greatest Game Ever Played, which chronicles the 1913 U.S. Open, special is that he truly brought the key players, Francis Ouimet and Harry Vardon among others, to life.

With all that happened on the week of the U.S. Open a century ago an entire book could be devoted to just the event. As I said though, what really separates The Greatest Game Ever Played is that Frost illuminates the players. Frost does this right from the beginning by starting in the childhoods of Ouimet and Vardon. The chapters rotate back and forth focusing on Ouimet and Vardon one at a time. Slowly a picture of both is painted and, even though Ouimet was 23 years Vardon’s junior and from Massachusetts whereas Vardon was from Jersey (an island close to France that is part of the United Kingdom), the paintings are strikingly similar. Both came from poor beginnings, both had fathers that disapproved of them playing golf, both caddied at a golf course right next to their home, and both became prominent in the history of golf. Eventually the rotation of chapters stops as Ouimet and Vardon finally appear in the same frame at the 1913 U.S. Open.

Appearing in the frame with Ouimet and Vardon was Ted Ray, who was also from Jersey. For Vardon and Ray, the U.S. Open was the climax of their 1913 tour of America, and right from the start it was expected that the U.S. Open would be a two man race, and if an American was somehow to win, it certainly would not be Francis Ouimet. As the week unfolded though, a three man race, which culminated with one of the greatest triumphs in American sports history, emerged.

Overall, I strongly encourage both golfers and non-golfers alike to read The Greatest Game Ever Played as it truly is a lesson in history, not just golf history. For American golfers though, it will certainly strike a special chord because the 1913 U.S. Open is the single event that truly made golf popular in the United States of America. I can safely say that The Greatest Game Ever Played is now one of my favorite books and that Mark Frost is one of my favorite authors because his book The Grand Slam, which is about Bobby Jones successfully completing the grand slam in 1930, is also a favorite of mine. So, if you are looking for a good book to read, one of the aforementioned Mark Frost classics is certainly a good choice, and I haven’t read it yet, but The Match, which is also by Frost, probably wouldn’t disappoint either.