ANALYSIS and COMMENTARY

Ben Hogan's club specifications

hogan as it happened May 15, 2020

For the golfer who has likely been studied more closely than any other, surprisingly little information is available about the specs of Ben Hogan's clubs. The USGA has several drivers and two iron sets in its collection, but hasn't published anything that I'm aware of. As far as I know, all that is readily available is from the book Afternoons With Mr. Hogan; in it, Jody Vasquez published what he claims were the specs of Hogan's clubs in the mid-1960s during the period Vasquez was working in the bag room at Shady Oaks:1



Jody includes some insights from Hogan's personal club maker, Gene Sheeley, and adds some details, including the bounce on the sole of the irons, which ranged from negative with the long irons to none at all with the shorter clubs; the reminder under the standard size cord grip set at 5 o'clock; and an odd claim that the heel of the irons were ground in a way that caused them to sit five degrees open at address.2  But Vasquez also admitted that...

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TalkinGolf History Podcast: The Myths of Ben Hogan

hogan as it happened Jan 16, 2020

On Friday, January 10, TalkinGolf History Podcast 26 was published, "The Myths of Ben Hogan." Thinking About Golf founder Jeff Martin was interviewed by host Connor Lewis and discussed several of the significant myths that have shaped what "we know" about the legend, but are not fully accurate. Topics include:

1. Did Hogan spend ten years "on tour" before winning his first individual event?

2. Did Hogan have a "secret"? 

3. Does the 1942 Hale America count as Ben Hogan's fifth US Open?

4. Did Hogan's doctors tell him that he "might never walk again and would surely never play golf again"?

5. Did Hogan hate putting?

And more! Link is directly below:

The Myths of Ben Hogan

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Merry Christmas from TAG and Mark Baron: Ben Hogan's First Published Instruction

hogan as it happened Dec 22, 2019

Some of you know Mark Baron, one of the premier Hogan collectors and the operator of the renowned "Ben Hogan" Facebook group:

Ben Hogan Facebook Group

Mark's FB group is essential daily viewing for those who can't get enough about the great man: each day Mark posts an article by or about Hogan, or acknowledges an important event in Hogan's life. Of course, he was featured in this past summer's two-part documentary Hogan, produced by Golf Films and aired on the Golf Channel.

Last week, Mark shared with me an article from the March 1943 issue of Esquire that he had recently acquired and it absolutely floored me: a four page instruction article, complete with three full swing sequences, photographed from different angles.1 I had never seen the article or any pictures from the sequences, or even heard it referenced anywhere. I'm still in a bit of shock by the discovery.

The timing of the publication may have something to do with its obscurity. Because of World War II, the U.S. tour...

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