Some people have the innate ability to impact the lives of others. Richard “Dick” Connolly Jr. is one of those people. In fact, Connolly, who received the 2025 Francis Ouimet Award for Lifelong Contributions to Golf from the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund on Monday, may have been impacting lives before he even knew it.
In the mid-1960s, Connolly was working on the maintenance staff at Woburn Country Club, a nine-hole course located just outside of Boston. One day he walked into the pro shop and found his friend Don Hearn working the desk. In that moment, according to Hearn, Connolly suggested Hearn join the superintendent team. Hearn took the suggestion, setting the stage for a 50-year career in golf mostly as a superintendent, culminating with his recent retirement as the executive director of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of New England.
The story Hearn shared only scratches the surface of who Connolly is and what he stands for. Connolly was first introduced to the game of golf when, as an 8-year-old, he began caddying at Woburn Country Club. To this day Connolly, a 2023 inductee into the Caddie Hall of Fame, calls that job the most important job he has ever had.
“[Being a caddie] was the single most valuable experience I’ve had in my life,” Connolly said at the time of his induction. “The fine people I caddied for taught me so many lessons in life, and, to this day, I believe caddying is the best way for a young person to learn.”
The son of Richard and Ruth, Connolly and his brother Robert eventually joined the Woburn Country Club maintenance team. It was during his teen years while working for the maintenance crew that Connolly found out about the Francis Ouimet Scholarship. The chain reaction that discovery set off is astounding.
In need of financial assistance to help offset the cost of college, Connolly applied for and received the Francis Ouimet Scholarship.
“Receiving the Francis Ouimet Scholarship was so important for me,” said Connolly, who attended the College of Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, and played on the golf team. “My parents didn’t have a dime. The scholarship was critical to me being able to pay for school.”
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