Legacy – The Ouimet Fund Podcast Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund

Jennifer Misiaszek is a Program Manager for the Boston Parks and Recreation department. Jenn has worked for the city for eleven years, and has been the Ouimet Fund’s “go to” partner and contact through her oversight of the Boston Parks and Recreation Caddie Scholars Program – where each year, more than 100 young men and women work at either Franklin Park or George Wright golf courses.
Through working in this program, young people become eligible to apply for a Ouimet Scholarship (as one of the prerequisites is two years of golf employment at a Massachusetts golf course). The program was founded in 1996 and over the nearly 30 years, has experienced great success and growth due to the efforts of people like Jenn along the way. In that time, $2,510,000 in need based awards have gone to 181 young men and women who participated in the Caddie Scholars Program at Franklin Park and George Wright.
Jenn grew up in Boston and is a graduate of UMass Boston, where, as a standout athlete, she played both softball and basketball. Growing up as an athlete and now having two children, Brayden and Madison (both of whom participate in many sports), Jenn has been moved by having once been the person on the fields and courts, playing in tournaments organized by the City – and now she is the person organizing them.

Glenn Kelly is the Head Golf Professional at Woods Hole Golf Club in Falmouth, Massachusetts, a Ouimet Alumnus, and a lifelong supporter of the Ouimet Fund and its mission. For decades, Glenn has led Woods Hole’s successful caddie program, and has guided more than 50 young men and women to Ouimet Scholarships totaling in excess of $300,000 in awards. For his decades of dedication and effort, Glenn received The Fund’s 2023 Golf Professional of the Year award.
Glenn grew up in Pembroke, Massachusetts and grew up working at Pembroke Country Club. Glenn’s love for the game of golf would lead to a celebrated career, as he joined Woods Hole Golf Club in 1985 as Assistant Golf Professional to legendary Head Pro Dutch Wessner. Glenn was promoted to Head Golf Professional at Woods Hole the following year, and has been staple in the Club’s community ever since.

Glenn has been deeply involved with the Cape Cod chapter of the PGA, and during his career has served as District Director and was elected to the prestigious Quarter Century Club of the PGA.

Robert P. “Bob” Donovan is the recipient of the Ouimet Fund’s 2023 Denny Goodrich Honorary Alumnus Award, which is presented annually to someone who did not receive the scholarship when they were in school, but has been exemplary in their support of the Ouimet Fund. For 29 years as Executive Director, Bob led the Ouimet Fund through a period of tremendous expansion and growth, and there is perhaps no better person to represent multiple generations of this organization’s impact.
Growing up in Milton, Massachusetts, Bob learned to play golf at the Old Wollaston Golf Club and began working as a caddie as a teenager. He attended the University of Tennessee, and soon after began a career in sports information. Bob and his family moved to Connecticut, where he spent a great deal of his career running special events with CIGNA, many of which had a close connection to golf.
However, Bob returned to Massachusetts to take the position as Executive Director of the Ouimet Fund and in his 29 years at the helm, Bob was instrumental in countless important efforts. Among his many achievements, Bob was intrinsically involved in the broad expansion of the endowed scholarship program, the inception and growth of the annual Golf Marathon, and, leveraging his expertise in special events, the creation of the Ouimet Annual Banquet alongside Ouimet Fund benefactor Dick Connolly - which today continues to be the largest golf dinner in America.
Bob Donovan remains closely connected to The Fund as a Trustee on the Board of Directors, and often provides crucial information and background as one of the preeminent golf history buffs in Massachusetts.

Juli Inkster is one of the greatest golfers of all time, a World Golf Hall of Famer, and will be awarded the 2024 Francis Ouimet Award for Lifelong Contributions to Golf at the Ouimet Fund’s Annual Banquet on March 21, 2024. With a professional career spanning three decades, Inkster’s career is highlighted by an incredible seven major championship wins, and she is ranked sixth all-time in career LPGA Tour wins. She has more wins in Solheim Cup matches than any other American, and is the only female golfer in history to win two majors in a decade for three consecutive decades by winning three in the 1980s, two in the 1990s, and two in the 2000s.
Inkster grew up in Santa Cruz, CA, the youngest of three children and extremely competitive with her older brothers. While she played nearly every other sport growing up, Inkster picked up golf in her late teens, after having taken a job at Pasatiempo Golf Club. After choosing to attend San Jose State University on a golf scholarship, she launched into a prolific stretch of amateur golf, including being named a three time All-American, winning three straight U.S. Women’s Amateur titles, and becoming the #1 ranked women’s amateur golfer in the world.
In recent years, Inkster has taken on a new chapter as a golf commentator, serving in both the booth analyst and interviewer roles for Golf Channel, Fox Sports, and NBC. She and her husband, Brian, have two daughters, Cori and Hayley.

Thank you for listening, and we hope you enjoy our conversation with the legendary Juli Inkster!

Mark Frost is an American novelist, screenwriter, film and television producer and director. He is the author of The Greatest Game Ever Played, as well as the screenwriter and producer of the film adaptation of the book. He is also the co-creator of the mystery television series Twin Peaks and was a writer and executive story editor of Hill Street Blues.
Mark was born in Brooklyn to Mary Virginia Calhoun and actor Warren Frost. During his childhood, Mark was raised in Los Angeles and spent his adolescence in Minneapolis, and spent two years in an internship program studying and working at Minneapolis' Guthrie Theater. Mark subsequently enrolled in Carnegie Mellon University studying acting, directing and playwriting.

Throughout his successful career, Mark has written novels, screenplays and theatre productions, however, in the Ouimet Fund world, Mark is most famous for having written The Greatest Game Ever Played, which captured Francis Ouimet’s victory at the 1913 U.S. Open and the seminal moment in the beginning of American golf. The novel is remembered as one of the greatest sports books of all time. Mark subsequently wrote and produced the film adaptation, which starred Shia LaBeouf and was directed by Bill Paxton.

Mark has firmly established himself as a dear friend to the Ouimet Fund, the Ouimet community and the families of Francis Ouimet and Eddie Lowery. He and his wife generously created an endowed scholarship with the Ouimet program, which provides an award each year for a young man or woman studying art, dance, theater or film.

Don Hearn is the Executive Director of the Golf Course Superintendent's Association of New England and a close partner and friend to the Ouimet Fund. Don has spent his entire life and career devoted to golf, from his early days caddying at Woburn Country Club all the way through to his present day role running the daily operation of the GCSANE.
Don graduated from Stockbridge Agricultural School at UMass Amherst, and throughout his impressive career, Don spent nearly forty years working at several top courses in Massachusetts, including as Head Superintendent of Weston Golf Club, Lexington Golf Club and Vesper Country Club.

While still acting as a Head Superintendent in Massachusetts, Don was elected President of the Golf Course Superintendent Association of New England in 1984, and in 2004 was awarded the organization’s Distinguished Service Award. In 1987, Don was elected President of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, a nationwide organization leading their field. Among his many achievements in this role, Don led the organization in revamping its certification process and program, which to this day remains the mark of top superintendents throughout the country.

He also excelled in the industry through service and leadership, having served as a member of the USGA Green Section committee and the Massachusetts Golf Association Executive Committee. Known to those close to him for his quick wit, he is widely respected by his peers, and continues to lead the Golf Course Superintendents Association of New England, especially in pushing for additional recognition for the hard work of the superintendent teams day in and day out at courses throughout the region.