Francis Ouimet Collection

No single person has had a greater impact on the game of golf in America than Francis Ouimet. Though gaining in popularity, golf was still a fringe sport until a 20 year old Francis Ouimet shocked the world by winning the 1913 US Open. It was front page news throughout the country. Ten years after Ouimet’s surprise victory, the number of golfers in the United States had tripled, and hundreds of new golf courses had been built. All it took was a largely unknown caddie from Brookline, Massachusetts defeating the greatest golfers in the world. 

Ouimet’s collection of golf medals, trophies, and memorabilia was acquired by the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund after Ouimet’s death in 1967. Many of these relics were displayed in the Francis Ouimet Museum that was in Weston, MA from 1984-2002, but have been sitting in storage ever since. Collectors often point to the dearth of quality Ouimet memorabilia in the collecting market. Well, with this auction, that’s about to change...

Now, approximately 50 years after it first took possession, the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund has chosen to auction its entire collection of Francis Ouimet medals and trophies. Money raised by this sale will go towards the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund’s primary objective - providing scholarships so that deserving young men and women who have worked at golf courses can obtain a college education.

Francis Ouimet’s Original R&A Captain's Jacket Oil Painting

Offered here is one of 4 original, authorized paintings that have ever been produced showing Francis Ouimet in his red R&A jacket. The original is owned by the British Golf Museum, the USGA owns the copy that was commissioned by Eddie Lowery, and hanging in the R&A Clubhouse is the later Dwight Eisenhower copy. Offered here is what the Francis Ouimet Fund considers the 4th "original" Ouimet red jacket painting. This is a 1978 painting by Priscilla Tate that was commission by the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund. It was commissioned to hang above the fireplace in the Ouimet Room of the Francis Ouimet Museum in Weston, MA, where it hung from 1978 to 2002. 

Oil on canvas, 27" x 21", framed to an overall size of 32 1/2" x 26 1/2".  

Letter of Provenance from The Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund