In 1904 American Walter J. Travis, who had won the U.S. Amateur three of the previous four years, traveled to England to play in the British Amateur Championship at Royal St. Georges Golf Club. Taking motivation from perceived indignities he says he experienced at the hands of his British hosts Travis remarked:

“A reasonable number of fleas is good for a dog, it keeps the dog from forgetting that he is a dog.”

In the end this dog had his day…..he went on to win match after match against the best British amateurs of the day and become the first “foreigner” ever to win the British Amateur Championship. 

Walter J. Travis

The Story of American Golf  (Herbert Warren Wind 1948)