Relive Hogan's glorious 1953

New Hall of Fame exhibit is a fitting tribute

Everybody's going to Florida on spring break. Even Ben Hogan. Well, his locker is, anyway. Hogan's home track, Fort Worth's venerable Shady Oaks Country Club, preserved his locker just as he had left it years ago by putting it under glass. A fire ravaged Shady Oak's clubhouse over the winter, and licensed extractors were called in to remove the legendary locker so it could be packed up, loaded onto a rental van and driven to St. Augustine, Fla., where it helps commemorate the 50th anniversary of Hogan's greatest season in a new display that recently opened at the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Hogan won three majors in 1953 and five of the six tournaments he entered. The display features some of his clubs, a few prototype putters he built, a bust of Hogan, items from Colonial Country Club and the Ben Hogan Company, and memorabilia from Doug McGrath, who formerly worked for Hogan. Visuals include photos of Hogan's famous 1-iron shot at Merion's 18th hole in the 1950 U.S. Open and a 5-iron shot he hit at the same hole the next day when he won the playoff.

"They're two different pictures from two different photographers on two different days, but you'd swear they're the same picture," said Bruce Lahti, general manager and director of operations of the Hall of Fame. "Doug told me that in Hogan's office one day, Hogan pointed to the 5-iron photo and said, 'See, there's my divot from the 1-iron shot the day before.'"

Clearly, Hogan must've been having a little fun with his assistant. When I visited the exhibit last week before the Players Championship, I went looking for those two photos. Hall of Famer Carol Mann, who was instrumental in convincing the various parties to loan the Hogan memorabilia and who is a Hoganphile herself, helped point out the photos and said there is no way you can see Hogan's 1-iron divot. While the photos are remarkably similar, it's obvious Hogan is much closer to the green in the second photo (duh -- he's hitting 5-iron in, not 1-iron). His divot from the previous day is not visible. Mann had another interesting nugget: As a child, Hogan sold newspapers to make money for his impoverished family, but he gave that up when he heard he could earn better pay by caddying at a local golf club, which was how he discovered golf in the first place.

The Hall of Fame, which has been a disappointment, has turned the corner and gotten its act together. The new Hogan display, which is worth the price of admission itself and fills an entire room, will be open through 2003. Along with the Hogan artifacts are enlargements of rare -- and, in some cases, previously unseen -- photos from Ben Hogan: The Man Behind the Mystique by Martin Davis, a coffee-table book that is a must-have for Hogan aficionados. The Hogan display is a step in the right direction for the Hall.

Moving forward, the Hall is going to focus more on people -- the stars who made the game popular -- and less on the esoteric history of golf and its equipment. Last year's Hall inductees received their own display cases filled with trophies, medals and photographs, a big upgrade from past years when inductees often donated a single item. Hopefully, once previous inductees see the new direction the Hall is taking, they will be willing to donate or loan more of their memorabilia.

For instance, it seems a shame that Jack Nicklaus had to build his own museum in Columbus, Ohio, to house all his stuff; Arnold Palmer has a storage barn in Latrobe, Pa., filled with his old trophies and clubs; and Gary Player is trying to sell his entire collection in hopes that a buyer will keep it together and put it on display somewhere. I'm not sure the Nicklaus Museum (which is terrific, by the way) on the Ohio State campus can generate enough traffic to sustain itself, but had these legends joined forces to open a Big Three museum, I'd bet that would have worked. As Hall of Fame-type places go, the Nicklaus Museum and the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame remain the two best I've seen.

Mailbag

Who are the early prospects for PGA Tour Rookie of the Year? I know this distinction is not nearly as popular or easy to debate as it is in other sports, but I am interested in hearing if Purdue graduate Lee Williamson will do anything, if he's even on tour. I saw him play and he looks to have a very nice game.
—Chris Lindy, Evansville, Ind.

I'd have to say Aaron Baddeley is the top contender, though at 22 he doesn't even seem like a rookie since he won the Australian Open as an amateur in 1999. Baddeley had a good week at Bay Hill, has already won more than $700,000 (which will guarantee him a card and an exemption next year) and ranks 18th on the money list. Another good player is Carl Pettersson, a Swedish native who played college golf at North Carolina State. He has already won $650,000 and has a very solid game. Also keep an eye on Arron Oberholser, a San Jose State alum who was second on the Buy.com Tour last year. He has been in contention several times this year, is 45th on the money list and looks like a future star, too. No sign of Lee Williamson. Didn't see his name in the Q school scores, so I'll have to do further research. He's probably playing minitour golf since he's not exempt for the PGA Tour or Nationwide Tour. I'll start checking the Hooters Tour scores for his name.

My husband has a lot of natural golf ability and a heartfelt passion to play. We don't have much financially and have no knowledge of how to begin entering competitions. Do you have any advice?
—Val Penrod, Anna, Ill.

Check with the United States Golf Association. Its Web site, usga.org, has complete listings of its national amateur tournaments with online entry forms. On a smaller scale, check the bulletin board at your local golf course (there are always tournaments in the area) or with a regional golf organization -- in your case, the Western Golf Association. If you're talking about professional tournaments and you have no idea how to break in, trust me, you're not ready to break in.

Since you attend many tournaments during the year, I thought you would be the man to answer this question: When was the first time you noticed men and women in the gallery wearing golf shoes? I first saw this wannabe fashion statement about five years ago, and I think it has gotten worse. You don't see fans wearing football cleats, baseball spikes or ice skates to these respective events. Is there a purpose to wearing golf shoes that I am not aware of?
—Matt Kanarick, Melbourne, Fla.

I can only assume, Kanatollah, that you've never actually played golf or been out of Florida and seen hills. After a rain or early in the morning when the grass is covered with dew, a golf course is a slippery and potentially dangerous place. Not only on the hills but even watching around the greens, which are often raised. I see fans fall on their butts a lot when it's wet (it's almost a spectator sport in itself around the 18th green during the Memorial Tournament, where rain is virtually guaranteed). Also, golf shoes are waterproofed. Walk a course in the early morning in tennis shoes, and your shoes and socks are drenched inside of 60 seconds. Let me add one more thing: Duh! The real posers on golf courses are usually female fans who show up in heels or some kind of fashionable footwear that isn't made for walking. Golf spectating is all about walking, usually on grass, two things they apparently didn't expect.

Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller occasionally talk about how winning was tougher in their day because the competition knew how to win. No disrespect to Jack, but isn't that backward? Perhaps the competition knew how to win because no one, Jack included, could close out like Tiger Woods does.
—John Sutton, Annapolis, Md.

Not sure I follow your logic, Hal, since 70-plus wins and 18 major championships indicate Jack knew something about closing. If winning was tougher in their day, which I wouldn't agree with, it was because the players then had to rely more on their guts and character because they didn't have the perfect swings of today's video-fed, psychologist-aided, technically superior, former college stars. I'd say it's harder to win today because of far greater depth, thanks to 125 exempt players vs. 60 in the old days, and the Nationwide/Buy.com/Nike/Hogan Tour and expanded minitours, which have allowed about eight times as many players to make a living as full-time tour golfers. In the old days, if you weren't a top-60 exempt player or a Monday-qualifier rabbit, you had to get a real job to support yourself. You didn't have a Hooters or Golden State tour to play and toughen your game.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Gary Van Sickle writes for the magazine's Golf Plus section and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Click here to send him a question or comment.

 

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