Ouimet Fund pays back in millions of ways

MILTON - Somewhere at the root of the tournament there sits what could be considered a purse that revolves around impressive figures - $19.2 million or $1.5 million, depending upon one's perspective. But to those who took on the challenge of the Ouimet Memorial Tournament in yesterday's opening round at Wollaston Golf Club, the glory of it all is this: The money is not theirs to take, but to give.

They wouldn't want it any other way, either.

For these three days in the dog days of summer, the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund is about competitive golf at the highest level for the best amateurs. But make no mistake about it, what matters most is the enormous piles of money that go toward scholarships for students with work backgrounds in the game of golf. From a humble $4,600 that was awarded to 13 students in its debut year (1949), this year the fund will award a whopping $1.5 million to 330 students.

"We're very proud of the way it's grown," said executive director Bob Donovan, who oversees a small staff that somehow manages to pull off an impressive task.

They do a lot with a little, which is to say there is only a 6.9 percent administrative cost. If there is a trick to that, it's very simple.

"There's a good board [of directors]. It's an involved group of people who are passionate about the fund," said Donovan. "Very smart people. Very committed. It allows us to get by with such a small staff."

Affirming the positive

Viewpoints are subjective and open for debate, but when it comes to the Ouimet Fund, that's not the case. Richard F. Connolly Jr. of Concord is the unquestioned heart and soul of the organization, a relentless fund-raiser who, when it comes to helping others, hears the word "no" and takes that to mean he should ask until a "yes" resonates. Of course, what sets him apart from most fund-raisers is that Connolly is the ultimate lead-by-example guy.

One of the country's top stockbrokers, Connolly has served as fund president, headed a number of committees, and been the guiding force for the board of directors for years. He is celebrating his 30th year as chairman of the Ouimet Memorial, which arrived on the scene in 1968, the year after Francis Ouimet died. One of Ouimet's clubmates at Woodland GC in Newton, Tommy Barrett, organized the tournament for top-flight amateur players as a way to keep the legend's name attached to competitive golf. From being held at Woodland only, the competition is now a 54-hole affair spread out over three courses, with Woodland annually serving as host for the Friday finale.

What stands out when you peruse the roll call of past winners is just how much talent has flocked to the tournament. Men who would go on to achieve PGA Tour status have won this championship, names such as Bill Mallon, Peter Teravainen, Bruce Douglass, Fran Quinn Jr., and Brad Faxon. There is also a healthy list of lifelong amateurs who've achieved great stature in the game, men such as John Hadges, Brendan Hester, Frank Vana Jr., Jack Kearney, Kevin Carey, Joe Keller, Jon Fasick, and John Salamone.

But while on a warm and pristine day amid the tree-lined fairways of Wollaston GC, Hunter Stone of Crumpin-Fox shot even-par 72 to snare the first-round lead, it remains a unanimous viewpoint that Connolly is the annual champion of this gathering.

"My favorite story about Dick comes from the time he was asked to address a group of stockbrokers-in-training, young and very sharp individuals," said Donovan. "Here is Dick, a very successful person, and he tells the group that the most important lessons he learned in life came from his days as a caddie. He told the group, 'Where else can you tell who will take the risk? Who will be aware? Who will pay you?'

"It speaks to his passion for the game, for what the Fund stands for."

It also speaks to the legacy of its namesake, Francis Ouimet.

Touched by greatness

Ninety-five years ago, it was another round of golf at Wollaston Golf Club that helped set in motion one of the game's most storied careers. Back then, however, Wollaston GC was in North Quincy (it moved to Milton 33 years ago; the former Wollaston GC is now Presidents GC) and well-struck drives were lucky to travel 225 yards. But the competitive fires burned as fiercely then as they do now and into that environment stepped the 20-year-old Ouimet.

Having dispatched of John Anderson, arguably the best Massachusetts player of the era, in a previous match, Ouimet took on F.H. Hoyt and steamrolled to a 10-and-9 victory to win the first of his six State Amateur titles. The former caddie from The Country Club lost his first hole of that match, but was 8-up through 18 and with a brilliant use of the "stymie," Ouimet put on a show that would usher him onto a stage he dominated for the next 20 or so years.

Less than three months later, Ouimet scored a more improbable and historic win - the 1913 US Open in a playoff over heralded Englishmen Harry Vardon and Ted Ray - and thus was a distinguished career cemented.

If there is great flavor to this annual Ouimet Memorial, it comes not just from the premier amateurs, but also from the men who have long and faithful ties to the game in general and the scholarship fund in particular. Gentlemen such as Robert McDonald Sr.

At 77, McDonald's passion for the game goes back to his caddie days at The Country Club and he can stand witness to the great growth of the scholarship fund, which has awarded $19.2 million since 1949.

He was a member of that 13-student class in 1949 that split roughly $4,600.

"I got $875," said McDonald.

If you wonder if he used it wisely, consider the route he has taken. From MIT to Harvard Business School to a successful career in construction, McDonald represents so much of what is good about this organization.

No, the golf wasn't up to his liking in the opening round at Wollaston yesterday, as he shot 91, but the greater point is, McDonald remains a cherished connection to Ouimet, that is, a player who met the great man.

The first scholarship fund banquet was held at University Club, and in subsequent years it moved to the Parker House. Intimate gatherings, they were, but if there's a memory that sticks out, it was the day McDonald got out of his car and ran into Ouimet, who was getting out of his.

"I said hello, Mr. Ouimet, and he said, 'Robert, do me a favor?' " said McDonald. "He said, 'Please, call me Francis.' "

McDonald laughs.

"I just couldn't, and I never did."

So to McDonald he remained Mr. Ouimet at all times, perhaps the ultimate sign of how much respect the two-time US Amateur champion commanded. Forty-one years after his death, that respect still gives shape to an organization Ouimet would have been proud of.

The $1.5 million that will be distributed to roughly 330 students is impressive and McDonald shakes his head. That thought takes the sting out of a day that had not gone as well as he would have liked.

"It's wonderful," said McDonald. "Not only that, it's amazing."

Even more amazing is this: Officials are determined to make it even bigger and better.