Historic wins, famous blackballing: Inside the history of The Country Club, host of the 2022 U.S. Open

Francis Ouimet’s secret weapon in the 1913 U.S. Open wasn’t a particular set of clubs, nor his familiarity with the course at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, which he could see from his bedroom window.

When the amateur won the title in an upset against British veterans Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, he credited his caddie, Eddie Lowery, a 10-year-old boy from nearby Newton who was his loudest cheerleader.

The stunning victory cemented a place for Ouimet and Lowery — and The Country Club, host of the upcoming 2022 U.S. Open — in golf history. Here’s what you need to know about The Country Club.

Who was Francis Ouimet’s caddie?

A 20-year-old Brookline native who had caddied at TCC, Ouimet was fresh off a loss in the U.S. Amateur when the president of the United States Golf Association asked if he would play in the Open. Though he initially declined, Ouimet joined after his boss gave him time off to play.

Finding a caddie proved more difficult.

Lowery and his brother, Jack, played hooky from school to watch the play at TCC, and Jack agreed to caddie for Ouimet after the golfer’s original man bailed. When a truant officer caught Jack, however, Eddie took three street cars over to TCC and pleaded with Ouimet to take his brother’s place.

“I’ve never lost a ball,” Lowery advertised, not mentioning he had rarely caddied, according to TCC historian Frederick Waterman.

More: Thousands of golf fans, millions of dollars: Brookline’s U.S. Open plan

Knowing the course as well as he did, “Ouimet didn’t really need a caddie,” Waterman said. “What he needed was someone to believe in him, which Eddie Lowery did with all his heart.”

Ouimet’s win kickstarted the American golf boom, Waterman said. Both he and Lowery left lasting legacies at TCC, including a 2005 incident, when an assistant golf professional spotted the ghostly figures of a boy and a young man sitting on a bench, dressed in golf clothing from a century prior.

The Country Club membership

The ghost sightings — there have only been a couple over the years, according to Waterman — are part of the lore of The Country Club, one of the United States’ oldest and most exclusive clubs.

Founded in 1882, TCC only began allowing women as voting members in 1989, and didn’t have a Jewish member until the 1970s, or a Black member until 1994.

So exclusive is the club that former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said he and his wife were “blackballed” from joining. Former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady — whose previous residence is visible from the TCC course — had a difficult time getting in.

In its early days, The Country Club employed a flock of sheep to keep the greens trimmed. (Photo: The Country Club)

Who founded The Country Club?

The Country Club’s unique name, lacking identifiers, hints at its historical status. When he and his friends set out to create the club, founder J. Murray Forbes, an international trader, borrowed the name from a club in Shanghai.

At the time of its founding, The Country Club was the only “country club” in the Western Hemisphere, according to Waterman.

While TCC has hosted many high-profile golf competitions, including the 1999 Ryder Cup, 2013 U.S. Amateur and three U.S. Opens, early activities were primarily equestrian.

Establishing the golf course

Golf came to Massachusetts in 1892 with Florence Boit, who brought equipment back from her studies in Europe and shared the game with her uncle and friends. Smitten, the new golf converts convinced TCC’s executive committee to spend $50 to lay out six holes on the Clyde Park grounds.

Willie Campbell, the club’s first head golf professional, helped expand the course. His wife, Georgina, later became America’s first female golf professional at nearby Franklin Park.

Georgina Campbell, wife of Willie Campbell, the first head golf professional at The Country Club. Willie later moved over to Franklin Park, and Georgina took over after he died in 1900, becoming the first female head pro in the U.S. (Photo: The Country Club)

Meanwhile, TCC rose to the top of America’s nascent golf industry as one of five charter clubs to found the United States Golf Association.

In the second U.S. Open in 1896, European pros threatened to withdraw if John Shippen, a Black man, and Oscar Bunn, a member of the Shinnecock Nation, were allowed to play at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, their home course. The USGA’s president put his foot down, the naysayers backed off, and Shippen and Bunn played.

When the U.S. Open came to Brookline in 1913, TCC — which boasted four of the USGA’s first eight presidents — guaranteed Shippen was welcome. No Black man would play again in the U.S. Open until 1948.

Tricky course: One of the best in the U.S.

Over the years, The Country Club has attracted the world’s greatest golfers, many of whom have loved and lost on the tricky course.

Half a century after Ouimet’s victory, golf was experiencing another boom as the charismatic, telegenic Arnold Palmer rose in popularity. Palmer came to TCC for the 1963 U.S. Open, and spectators watched in horror as his ball came to a rest in a tree stump at the 11th hole. It took Palmer three swings to get it back into the fairway.

During the 1963 U.S. Open at The Country Club, legendary golfer Arnold Palmer watched as his ball came to a rest at a rotted tree stump at the 11th hole. He gamely took three swings and managed to get it into the fairway, but ultimately came up short to Julius Boros. (Photo: The Country Club)

During the 1963 U.S. Open at The Country Club, legendary golfer Arnold Palmer watched as his ball came to a rest at a rotted tree stump at the 11th hole. He gamely took three swings and managed to get it into the fairway, but ultimately came up short to Julius Boros.

Other pros have learned the hard way that TCC’s course requires strategizing, rather than hitting long. Jack Nicklaus “tried to impose his game on the course,” Waterman recalled, missing the cut in both 1963 and 1988, when TCC next hosted the U.S. Open.

TCC, which covers more than 235 acres, regularly ranks among the best courses in the world. In May, Golfweek ranked TCC the best private course in Massachusetts.

More: Golfweek’s top 200 classic golf courses

“You want a golf course to be like having a conversation with an interesting person, so that every time you meet that person you have a different conversation,” Waterman said. “The best golf courses are the ones where every round is different, but it’s always interesting, it’s always compelling because of the variety, because of what it demands of you.”

The course’s natural features set it apart, particularly the rocky outcroppings and fescue grass-lined bunkers, which look unfinished by design, said Brendan Walsh, TCC’s head golf professional.

The Country Club has played host to golf’s greats, including The Golden Bear himself, Jack Nicklaus.

Walsh listed the third hole as one of his favorites. “It’s our number one handicap hole in the front nine, and it’s a beautiful vista from the tee,” he said. “You look down and the horizon is our skating pond, as we call it.”

Both the third hole and 11th — another of Walsh’s favorites — have similar features, driving down to a generous area that funnels into a narrower path among the rocks, he explained.

Which holes will be used for the 2022 U.S. Open?

The club’s main course consists of the Clyde and Squirrel nines combined, and the upcoming U.S. Open will be played on a composite course including 15 holes from Clyde and Squirrel, as well as four additional holes from the Primrose nine (the first and second holes will be combined, Walsh explained).

He said the 2022 Open, to be played June 13-19, is meaningful in light of Ouimet’s 1913 win there, which put the game of golf on the map in America.

“For the U.S. Open to come back to that location where the history began and people realized that it’s an accessible game for all is what’s the most exciting,” he said. “To be able to share that around the world is pretty special.”