Gripping tale of Ouimet outgunning Vardon

BOOK REVIEW: PHILIP REIDreviews The Greatest Game Ever Playedby Mark Frost Published by: Time Warner Price:€15 (www.amazon.com)

HARRY VARDON was probably the greatest golfer of his generation. A Goliath among golfing men, a multi-major winner. Naturally, as in any work, his adversary should be the underdog; and, in this case, the role played by the amateur, Francis Ouimet, who came from a working-class family in Boston where he caddied at Brookline Country Club, is akin to that of a child taking on a man in the pursuit of sporting excellence.

This is fiction based on fact and Frost has succeeded admirably in producing a narrative – including conversations you’d imagine could conceivably have occurred between the main protagonists – that is part of a compelling storyline based around the US Open in 1913, which many believe was the catalyst for the growth of professional golf in the United States.

Of course, Frost has had to take some licence with the narrative; but the facts, in which veteran English professionals Vardon and his great adversary Ted Ray travelled to the US only to be outgunned by 20-year-old Ouimet, are firmly based on the actual happenings at Brookline.

What Frost has managed to do is create a book which brings the characters to life. Although the book digresses at times to inform us about the changes in rules and the equipment used by the players, it is the tournament itself which is very much the central theme.

The author has managed to provide an excellent insight into Vardon, he of the so-called “Vardon grip” that is used by most golfers – amateur and professional alike – to this day.

Vardon was the Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods of his generation. He rarely made mistakes, although a bout of tuberculosis was responsible for causing a case of the putting yips which occasionally manifested itself during the later years of his career.

The early part of the book has some excellent biographical background on Vardon, whose father disapproved of him playing golf, and recounts his rise to stardom. One interesting aside recounts a tournament in Northern Ireland where Vardon appeared on the first tee with his new creation, a pair of knickerbocker trousers buttoned over knee-high socks: the original plus-fours. Irish papers, at the time, “wondered if he had lost his mind”. Vardon’s trip to the US was bankrolled by the Dublin-born newspaper baron Lord Northcliffe. At the time, Vardon – despite his illnesses – remained a strong force and he travelled across the Atlantic on a first-class ticket on the steam ship with fellow-Jerseyman Ray to play a series of exhibition matches in the run-up to the US Open at Brookline. The big question was, which of them would win? The main American challenger was perceived to be Johnny McDermott, while Walter Hagen was only starting off on what would be a very successful professional career.

Few gave Ouimet – an amateur, whose father, like Vardon’s, disapproved of him playing golf – much hope. But, then, that underdog theme is the stuff of real sporting drama. Frost’s use of his own, imaginary dialogue – which is used alongside actual record of interactions taken from the newspapers of the time – might prove disconcerting to some, but it is a great sports story that catalogues the numerous on- and off-course problems which Ouimet faces before claiming his place in history.

That both Vardon and Ouimet were both trying to balance sporting demands with family life provides realism to which most sports people can relate.

Ouimet emerges as the central character – and the relationship he develops with his caddie Lowery helps the reader to get to know him – but Vardon’s honesty and place in golf’s evolution in Britain and in the US also comes across very well.

Frost has produced a thrilling story, quite an accomplishment given we are already aware of the outcome.

Questions for Readers

1Does Frost's use of imagined dialogue serve its purpose? Do you feel it is fair to attribute imagined words and emotions to real people who don't have an opportunity to dispute or confirm them?

2Frost's use of biographical background on the main characters indicates that they mainly came from working class backgrounds. Can the same be said about today's modern professional players?

3This book is set in the year before the outbreak of the first World War. Has Frost managed to go beyond the golfing storyline to convey the social factors which existed at the time? Does he let us know what it was like to be a professional athlete in these times?

4Do you believe Frost managed to explore the developing symbiotic relationship between the media and sports?

5How do you rate this book out of a possible top mark of 10?

Submit your answers and additional observations on this book below