The Meaning of Merion

Tom Ferrell

It's been extremely gratifying this week to see so much golf history in the news. This is the 100th anniversary of one of the greatest upsets in sports—20-year-old amateur Francis Ouimet's stunning win against Harry Vardon and Ted Ray at the 1913 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, where Ouimet had caddied.

American golf may well have never reached the heights it has without the legend of this unheralded amateur and his 10-year-old caddie, Eddie Lowery, both of whom went on to claim luminary positions in the game. The tale was featured in Southwest Airlines' in-flight magazine in June, hopefully exposing even more people to one of golf's finest moments.

The U.S. Open's return to Merion has touched off a firestorm of history discussion. And with the championship to be decided on just 110 acres shoehorned into an affluent Philadelphia suburb, it has also re-ignited a debate on the effect equipment technology have had on the game.

This is healthy discussion—although perhaps not as entertaining as Lee Trevino's 1971 playoff victory against Jack Nicklaus at Merion. The Golf Channel has spotlighted the “rubber snake” match all month, reliving one of the sea changes in golf, as the lighthearted and hardscrabble Trevino poked fun at—and holes in—the great Nicklaus.

Golf is not unique in celebrating its rich history. But the modern game, with its flashy players and jaw-dropping hang times would do well to remember that the moments that inspire millions to give the game a closer look are the ones of unlikely heroes making good in a sport that too often seems to favor a narrow and privileged demographic.

That's the “open” in U.S. Open. And that's good for golf.

 

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