'She is such a great face for the club': Rutland's Faford among winners of prestigious Ouimet Scholarship
HOLDEN — Fiona Faford was 15 years old when she applied for a job at Holden Hills Country Club.
During Faford’s interview with Elaine Kane, who owns the 18-hole public tract with her husband, Roger, Kane asked Faford why she wanted to work.
“She told me, ‘I’m saving for a car,’” Kane recalled this week. “I’m looking at her age and I said, ‘You don’t even have your driver’s license yet.’
“But that’s the kind of girl Fiona is,” Kane said. “She’s a planner, a go-getter.”
Sure enough, by the time Faford was 16½, she had saved enough to buy a 2007 Ford 500.
Faford, a Rutland resident and 2023 Wachusett Regional High honors graduate, is a freshman at the University of New Hampshire, and this summer will be her sixth working at Holden Hills CC.
Her primary job as a cart attendant includes cleaning and parking the carts and helping golfers load their clubs on the back. In recent years, though, she has also operated the beverage cart, worked behind the bar, taken inventory and organized stock rooms, and used her artistic talents to design food and drink special boards in the grill room. Additionally, Faford initiated a recycling program at the club.
“She’s always looking to do more than just her job,” Kane said.
Holden Hills employees can play golf for free, so after her shifts, Faford, who played a little bit with her mother, Lisa, when she was younger, worked on her game, improved, and was a two-year member of the girls’ golf team at Wachusett.
Seeing Faford’s drive, determination and work ethic, Kane last year encouraged Faford to apply for a prestigious Francis Ouimet Scholarship.
Founded in 1949, the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund has awarded $49.85 million in need-based scholarships to more than 6,630 deserving men and women who have worked at Massachusetts golf courses and demonstrate academic achievement, potential leadership, motivation, character and integrity.
Last spring, Faford submitted an essay to the Ouimet Fund, and subsequently went through a rigorous interview process. Faford found out in January that she was a recipient of the coveted four-year renewable scholarship.
“It’s really incredible,” Faford said during an interview Monday morning at Holden Hills. She is home on spring break this week.
Faford and this year’s other scholarship winners will attend the annual Ouimet Banquet Thursday night at the Encore Boston Harbor. Seven-time major champion Juli Inkster, this year’s banquet honoree, is the guest speaker.
“We’re really proud of her,” Kane said. “She is such a great face for the club.”
In her Ouimet Scholarship application essay, Faford wrote about how she has worked for everything throughout her life. In addition to purchasing her own car and phone, she pays for her auto insurance and clothes. She has funded most of her college tuition.
“I want to make my parents (Lisa and Jerry) proud,” Faford said, “and do things my own way. That’s how they grew up. They have worked their whole lives and I want them to enjoy. As I get older, I need to do things myself.”
Faford keenly prepared for the scholarship interview, and learned about Francis Ouimet, who grew up in a modest home across the street from the 17th hole at The Country Club in Brookline and, as an unknown 20-year-old amateur and former caddie, famously won the 1913 U.S. Open at TCC.
“Five people were asking me questions,” Faford said. “I was nervous, and I thought it didn’t do too great, but I got people laughing.”
She obviously aced it.
Another benefit of being a Ouimet Scholar is the Ouimet Onward program, which assists scholars with networking and job and internship opportunities.
“It means that I have one of the greatest opportunities in golf,” Faford said, “and I get to meet more people in the industry. It’s very important.”
Faford is majoring in environmental science, and she may consider a career in landscaping.
Faford played a round at Holden Hills on Sunday, and she planned to play again Wednesday.
“I started getting better,” she said. “I fixed my swing and learned to golf. Now, I can whip around the course. I’m doing pretty good.”
Kane said on Faford’s off days, which are rare as she usually works six days a week in the summer, golfers will ask, “Where is Fiona?”
Learning the ins-and-outs of a golf club operation is something Faford enjoys, but her favorite part of her job is interacting with Holden Hills’ golfers, management and staff.
“I like the people,” Faford said. “I learn so much about people’s lives and they learn about mine. I’ve met a lot of really nice people here. It’s a great place to work.”
—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @JenTolandTG.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Rutland's Faford among winners of prestigious Ouimet Scholarship
