I love to hear stories about the old time legends....Hogan, Snead, Jones, etc. I saw Gary Player on The Golf Channel last week, and he told this one about Hogan.....I'll just paraphrase his words....

"I was playing in the final two rounds of the 1958 US Open. In those days, you played 36 holes on the last day. I drew Ben Hogan
as my playing partner. When I walked onto the first tee, he shook my hand and said, "Good Morning son." Then he proceeded to play two rounds of near perfect golf in total silence. After we putted out on the second 18, he shook my hand again and said, "Nice playing, son."
So, in 36 holes and 8 hours, he said SIX words to me!

So, I'm in the locker room, cleaning out my locker, and someone taps me on the shoulder. I turn around, and it's Mr. Hogan.....and his face
is about six inches from mine. He says in a very quiet but firm voice, "Son, you're going to be a very good player some day." I thanked him
for the compliment. Then he said, "Do you practice much?" I wanted to tell him that I practiced as much as he did, but I didn't think that
would be the right thing to say to Hogan....so I just said, "Mr. Hogan, I practice A LOT!" He thought for a minute and said, "Then
DOUBLE IT!" and turned and walked away!!!

    A lot of people who don't partake of the history of our golf legends don't know that Hogan's life was impacted greatly by his witnessing of his father taking his life at a very young age. The burdens placed upon him, to be forced to help out his mother and siblings to survive during his Depression-era upbringing, was quite notable.

    He, along with Byron Nelson, caddied @ Glen Garden golf club in Ft. Worth, TX back in their youth. Shortly after starting work there as a kid, the other caddie kids picked on Ben because of his small stature. Nelson, who was taller and more athletic, didn't have to worry about being picked on. One day, Hogan was cornered by one of the biggest bullies in the caddy yard and Hogan bloodied his nose after a tussle. They didn't pick on Ben after that.

    His early life was a struggle to say the least. His early life as a professional golfer was likewise a struggle. But he was a survivor... every day of his life was a struggle, whether it was selling papers or looping bags as a young kid just to get by. When he turned pro - the struggle would still continue. I remember one story where he drove to a tournament, just starting out as a tour pro, only to miss the cut and then come back to his car at the hotel where he and his wife was staying - to realize that someone had stolen his tires. And he had no money to replace them. He had very little money to live on... they were living on little more than love and bare necessities.

    Hogan was known to be very curt, not very approachable, not very likable throughout much of his prime. Very few people really wanted to caddie for him because of his cold attitude. But he was a product of his upbringing... a product of a child who witnessed his father's suicide, who bottled all of that anguish and misery up well enough to go out and help his family make ends meet. And although that tough, cold attitude would go on to define his personality later on in life - it would also serve him well in his stubborn determination to become one of the greatest golfers of all time.

    Nelson and Hogan couldn't have come from more diverse backgrounds, and yet both would become rivals/friends.

    Those who enjoy good golf reads should check out "American Triumvirate" by James Dodson. The author details the lives of Hogan, Nelson and Snead, while also providing a very thorough backdrop of what life was like back during the Depression era.

      One of the highlights of being asked by a business client to attend The Colonial with a VIP Badge with him was access to the clubhouse and the Hogan Museum. What still stands out is the memory of reading a handwritten note from the Secretary of The Colonial Country Club to Mr. Hogan. The Club used to front Ben for his tournament fees and travel expenses. Ben had a bit of a slump and the Secretary had to write a letter to him reminding him he was behind in repaying his advances along with the ledger showing disbursements and reimbursements. How humbling must that have been to receive?

        Another great read is "Afternoons With Mr. Hogan" by Jody Vasquez. When Vasquez was a high school kid he got a job working in the pro shop at Shady Oaks, the club where Hogan was a member. By this time, Hogan was basically retired from competition and was concentrating all his efforts on running the Ben Hogan equipment company. He still loved to hit balls though, and one of Vasquez' jobs was to shag for Mr. Hogan daily.

        Lots of good stories in this book, but one of my favorites involved a guy who was a guest at the club and wangled a spot playing in the daily members' game, and somehow talked his way into being paired with Hogan. As Pa-Playa said in his description of Hogan, he was quiet and didn't like to talk much, esp. when he was playing. So, this "guest" proceeded to try to "chat Hogan up" all the way around, even calling him "Ben." So, on a par four, Hogan hit one of his usual crisp iron shots that sat down just a few feet from the flag, and the guest says, "Nice shot! What club did you hit, Ben?" Hogan didn't say another word, dropped another ball, took another club out of his bag, and hit an identical shot, also a few feet from the flag. Then he did the same thing with yet another club! Then he glared at the guest for a minute and said, "I hit a five, a six, and a seven......!" The guy shut up for the rest of the round......

          mikeintopeka Yup, now that sounds like "pressure". Sorta like Trevino's story of playing in a Nassau with not a cent to his name.

            I'd have to already nominate this post-thread for best of the Year! (So far)

            Pro told me he started his career working at Ben’s club. Ben would sit at a table by the window and he was instructed to never bother Mr. Hogan. One day when he was closing up Ben got up to leave and he figured “ what the hell, I’m going to ask Mr. Hogan a question. So he asked Ben “ Mr. Hogan how did you concentrate the way you did when you played?”. Ben stormed out and he thought he was sure to be fired. About two minutes later Ben came back in and said” son just what the hell are you thinking about when you play”

            PA-PLAYA He, along with Byron Nelson, caddied @ Glen Garden golf club in Ft. Worth, TX back in their youth. Shortly after starting work there as a kid, the other caddie kids picked on Ben because of his small stature. Nelson, who was taller and more athletic, didn't have to worry about being picked on. One day, Hogan was cornered by one of the biggest bullies in the caddy yard and Hogan bloodied his nose after a tussle. They didn't pick on Ben after that.

            Here is an update on the Club you referenced. It is now going to be the setting for a new whiskey distillery and it is located not far from Downtown Ft. Worth and not too far east of The Colonial Country Club / TCU University. This article was written by the son of close family friends and Drew obviously has been out to see the renovations to the formerly shuttered course. I've called Drew several times when I'm going to be in the Metroplex and have teed it up with him several times. Looks like he has connections to get us onto this classic gem!

            http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/golf/article183174296.html

              Thanks for the link about Glen Garden....I thought it had closed years ago and just figured it was a housing
              development. Nice to see the course still gets some play!

              A couple of Hogan stories you've probably heard before. A young Johnny Miller approached Ben Hogan and introduced himself. Hogan looked up at Miller and said, "can't you see I'm eating my soup."

              Also, Hogan never called Arnold Palmer by his name. He always called him 'fella'.

              Always loved the one I read where one time he was playing in a Proam and an amateur approached him asking for a golf tip. Mr. Hogan picked up the guy’s club and sees the brand name, and then says to him, “why don’t you ask Mr. Dunlop”.

              fatshot

              Enjoyable read, read Vasquez's book a few years back.

              It's always been interesting to hear the perspectives of those who worked closely with him, particularly near the end of his career. As Hogan neared the end of his life, he became more open and forthcoming about his career... which isn't to suggest that he was as "approachable" as the modern-day greats (like Nicklaus, for instance).

              But then again, Hogan came from a different era, where social media and the media in general had yet to impact the nature of how his legacy would ultimately be perceived upon his passing.

              Hogan's mystique, in large part, was fueled by the fact that very few in the public (outside of his very limited inner circle) were made aware of his upbringing and subsequent struggles just starting out. Nevertheless, he remains one of the most intriguing legends to this very day for that very reason. What he overcame, be it with his upbringing regarding living through the Depression-era, then witnessing his father's suicide at 9 years of age, to then overcoming a horrific collision with a Greyhound Bus that occurred that February morning back in 1949 at 36 years of age during his golfing prime, to the point where he overcame a predominant hook in his golf swing, to the point where his career was all but officially over because of his yippsih putting stroke.... although we are only afforded bits and pieces of his legendary career - you get the feeling that there was so much more there to draw from... that there's still so much more to Hogan's life than what has been chronicled over the years.

              One of the more intriguing, more thorough reads I've ever read chronicling Hogan's life was by Curt Sampson, released back in '96 in his book "Hogan."

              Back in July of this year was the 20th anniversary of his passing, as he passed away back in '97. His wife, Valerie, passed away two years later in '99.