Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Goofin' on Ben and Moe and Lee
Here's a link to the Youtube video http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=nH0XBJutrcU
and below is some goofin' around making swings like a few of my favorite golfers Hogan and Moe and Trevino. It was freezing and I just wanted to make the best of it and have some fun.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Bobby Jones
Robert Tyre "Bobby" Jones Jr. (March 17, 1902 – December 18, 1971) was one of the greatest golfers to ever compete. Jones skills took him to golf's summit in the days when amateur golf was respected and held in much higher esteem than the professional game. (I will be talking of Walter Hagen in America and of Henry Cotton in Britain and their importance to the transformation of public attitude towards the professional game in future Blogs)Jones succeeded on both a national and international level winning championships on both sides of the pond.
With the exception of the later period of his career when he was making instructional films Jones participated only as an amateur, primarily on a part-time basis, and chose to retire from competition at age 28.
For for now enjoy the greatness that was Bobby Jones.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
The Man on the Ryder Cup - Abe Mitchell
Who’s Abe Mitchell?!?!
Well, he’s that little guy on the top of the Ryder Cup. Abe Mitchell was also the longest hitter of his era and probably the finest golfer to never win the British Open although in my opinion that line would be finely drawn between him and Dai Rees who we will talk about another time.
Abe Mitchell was also one of the finest teachers of his time, teaching Samuel Ryder himself.
You Can download a pdf copy of Roger Porter’s article Abe Mitchell – the Man on the Ryder Cup here: http://www.royalashdown.co.uk/downloads/abe.pdf
There is also a great photo sequence of good old Abe at The Society if Hickory Golfers that you can actually click a button to animate here: http://www.hickorygolfers.com/swings/abemitchell/amswing.htm
Here is one of the shots from that sequence.
And you thought Sam Snead invented The Squat. Shame on you. Just look at Abe. No wonder he bombed it!!!
How To Play Your Best Golf All The Time
The brilliance of this book is Armour’s straight-forwardness (is that a word?) and his simplicity. The sort of simplicity that you will only find coming from a very confident and capable instructor and Armour surely was this and more. In his day he was one of the most sought out instructors in the world, charging also some of the highest fees imaginable at the time, but Armour could deliver the goods.
The first time I read the book many years ago I was astounded at what a stiking resemblance between some of the address position images advocated by Armour and Fred Couples.
Here's images I dug up of Armour and Couples for reference: Spooky!
About the only thing that I question in Armour’s book is the chapter called “The Pause That Means Good Timing” which goes against my idea that the transition can be automated and in a properly sequenced swing will simply trigger itself. His chapters “the Grip Holds The Swing Together” and “Footwork, The Foundation of Best Golf”, however, are must reads.
Chapter 1 is called “Why This Book Is as Short and Simple as It Is”. What could be better than that?!?!
First published in 1953 the book is still in print. You can pick it up at most bookstores or online at Amazon.com. Oh, and this is a link to previous Blog on Tommy Armour: http://sevam1.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html
Monday, November 17, 2008
Ed Furgol - 1954 US Open Champion
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Stalking Hogan - Those Crazy Canucks Are Always Up To Something
On day one they got kicked off of the premises by security. Same thing on day two. On day three those pesky and persistant Canucks try it again and damned if Hogan doesn't pull that security guard aside and say to him ....... "Let 'em watch."
By then Hogan was probably aware of who the groupies were. You see Seminole assistant Dave Marr had met the Canadian contingent earlier at a tournament and had screwed up and spilled the beans about where Hogan was practicing. But that bit doesn't matter. What matters is that Hogan must have respected their persistance and hearing who they were and that they were aspiring (read struggling) pro's just like he was once he threw them a bone. Knudson and pals watched Hogan hit balls for two more hours. Satisfied and grateful for the gesture they did not return and peace and tranquility once again returned to the bushes 'round Seminole.
Not long after that, Knudson was on tour himself observing and hitting balls on the same ranges as his idol Ben Hogan. There is a profile page on George Knudson at the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame.
Here's a link: http://www.halloffame.mb.ca/honoured/1988/gKnudson.htm
And here's a link from Fairways Magazine to the article Irv Lightstone wrote about their Hogan encounter: http://www.fairwaysgolf.ca/article.php?id=95
Monday, November 10, 2008
The Best Damned Swing in the History of Golf
Well if you had asked Ben Hogan he’d have looked you right square in the eye just to make absolutely sure that you were paying attention and he would have said…. Mickey Wright!!!
Who’s Mickey Wright?
Have a look!
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Sam Snead vs. Ben Hogan
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1069776/index.htm
Now in contrast Ben Hogan won 4 US Opens (5 if you're Dan Jenkins and want to count the 1942 Hale America Open) and as such Hogan is remembered in a completely different light than Snead. But you know it is a funny thing. Hogan never did all that well head to head against Snead in playoffs. In fact Snead had a 4-0 record against Hogan in playoffs including a playoff victory over Hogan for the 1954 Masters. But little if any film exists of these matches where Snead was the victor. And so the cruelty against the Snead legacy continues with Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf’s match between Snead and Hogan at the Houston Country Club which aired in February of 1965. You see, as I mentioned above we have little permanent record of Snead’s dominance of Hogan in playoffs on film. Instead we have this match in which Hogan drubs Snead with a flawless (apart from the putting) 69. Hogan hit every fairway and every green in regulation. Gene Sarazen commented that it was the finest round of golf he’d ever seen. Hogan’s only bogey was a three putt. Snead kept it close until the last with an impressive short game display, but it is Hogan’s perfection that is preserved on this film. This video is a must own for anyone who wants to study Hogan in action as he dismantles a long wet difficult golfcourse with careful planning and precision shotmaking. This video is where a lot of the color footage of Hogan on YouTube like this one below originates. I have had it on VHS for years, but you can now get the match on DVD (see amazon.com link below).
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Friday, November 7, 2008
Don't Ever Change
Loads of stories abound about Moe. Not all, but most are suprisingly true.
Here's one. It's recounted in Tim O'Connors Moe biography The Feeling of Greatness - The Moe Norman Story. The book is available direct from Tim O'Connor's site for $19.95 Canadian. Here's a link:
http://www.oconnorgolf.ca . You can also buy it at the Amazon.com. Link Below
In 1955 Moe was part of the Canadian contingent in the Amerca's Cup Amateur Championship. Moe faced Bill Campbell one of the strongest players on the US squad that year. If you don't know who Bill Campbell is, he is a career amateur and winner of more than 30 major Amateur events in the US including the US Amateur in 1964 and two US Senior Amateur titles in 1979 and 1980. He was also a two time President of the USGA. Here is a link to his profile at the World Golf Hall of Fame - http://www.wgv.com/hof/member.php?member=1030
Anyway, the story goes that the talented and unflappable Campbell had his match well in hand by the time they reached the 34th hole of their match. You see Campbell was 1 up and had whipped his tee shot on the 146 yard par three 16th to under 2 feet. Winning the hole would put Campbell 2 up with 2 to play. Campbell remarked at that point that this would be a hard hole to win. Ahhh but he was playing Moe Norman. In Moe's words "I hit an eight iron. It went four feet past the cup and came back to drop. That squared the match." A hole in one. When they reached the green Moe turned to Campbell and said "I'll give you that one" As one reporter wrote "The unflappable Campbell was flapped." Moe went on to win the match.
Of Moe, Campbell remarked in a speech later that day "He is a very, very fine player, both mechanically and instinctively. He is potentially one of the greatest players of our time. His hand action is the finest of any player I have ever seen."
Which leads to a conversation between Moe and Sam Snead at the 1956 Masters. Moe was on the practice tee and Snead came over to watch. Moe was hitting long irons. Snead's advice was to swing those long irons as if they were fairway woods and sweep those long iron shots off of the ground. Fine advice Moe thought and he then hit 800 balls wore his hands into a mass of blisters and then withdrew from the Masters the following day after 9 agonizing holes. His playing partner Vic Ghezzi and also the Tournament brass were not impressed.
What were Snead's parting words to Moe? "Son, you've got the best pair of hands I've ever seen on a golf stick. Don't Ever Change."
But he did change in the mid-nineties and that is the grip and hand action that we have come to know from all of the modern videos of Moe. That was not the grip he used the day he played with me.
Here's an Amazon.com link to Tim O'Connor's fine book .
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Who The Hell Is Sam Byrd ?!?
WHAT?!?! Say that again.
SAM BYRD!
Who the hell is Sam Byrd?
OK here is who Sam Byrd was. Sam Byrd played professional baseball for the New York Yankees. Yep Sam Byrd was a Bronx Bomber. He was known to many as “Ruth’s Legs” because he often did Ruth’s running late in games at the tail end of The Babe’s career. Anyway he played pro ball for the Yankees and the Reds from 1929 until 1936 when he retired from pro ball and turned his attention to playing professional golf. Today Sam Byrd is little more than a footnote but if you check the record book you will find that Sam’s the guy who came in 2nd 5 times to Byron Nelson during that famous run in 1945. Sam won 6 PGA Tour Events and 5 other tournaments of note between 1939 and 1945. He lost the 1945 PGA Championship to Nelson 4&3 in the final. So it goes without saying that Sam Byrd was a damned fine player.
The 1945 PGA Championship is interesting, however, because it was after this event that a shy and standoffish and even at that time somewhat reclusive Ben Hogan struck up a conversation with one Sam Byrd. The topic. You guessed it “The best way to hit a golfball.”
What struck Hogan was the simplicity with which Byrd articulated the details of the golfswing. For the next 20 years or so Ben Hogan and Sam Byrd maintained a friendship carried out mainly by phone. I have it on pretty good authority that Mr. Hogan phoned Sam Byrd fairly regularly, mind you not just to talk golf. They were friends. So what was it that Sam Byrd told Ben Hogan in 1945?
Oh come on. You didn’t think I’d just come right out and tell you, did you? We’ll talk some more about Mr. Byrd very soon.
In the mean time enjoy the slo-mo of his swing below.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Ben Hogan - The Coleman Video
In 1977, at age 65, Ben Hogan made one final trip to Florida to enjoy time with his good friend George Coleman and to play a little bit of golf at Seminole where for many years he had loved to practice in the winter months leading up to the Masters. George Coleman had a home on the water and, according to James Dodson’s biography Ben Hogan: An American Life
, Coleman and Hogan often hit balls into the ocean from that backyard. At the time of what appears to be Hogans’ last trip to Seminole Coleman had just purchased a new video camera and wanted to test it out. This led to one of the most important pieces of film ever made of Ben Hogan – The Coleman Video. Magnum184 on the Golfwrx Thread pointed out to me that you can actually see the balls land if you pay attention.
The first time I viewed this film it was for me a strange and profoundly emotional event. Here was Hogan interacting with his friends, showing them details about his technique and still swinging the club beautifully at that age. He’s even wearing George Coleman’s golf shoes. It is so pure and magical. If you are not moved by it you need to learn more about Ben Hogan, about friendship and about golf.
In the slow motion sequences that Hogan demonstrates, (what had been demonstrated in past Hogan clinics as The Concentration Drill) we see Hogan illustrating what he felt during the swing as opposed to what he actually did. This demonstration is so important because it shows how clearly Hogan understood that no matter what action he performed with the body the hands could always keep up.
Watching the video we feel guilty and we should because it is clear that this demonstration is meant solely for the eyes of his friends. When Dawn Coleman became aware of the video making it onto the Internet she said “ I’m so glad both George and Ben were gone by then. Ben would have been heartbroken to know strangers were looking at that.” The affection between Hogan and his friends is so pure. I have thought long about it and I have decided with still some reservation to reference this video here, for a few reasons. First because rightly or wrongly it is now out there and as they say “You cannot unring a bell”. Second because there is so much to learn from it about golf and more importantly about life and respect and affection among friends. When the woman (Mrs. Coleman I would guess) says “Oh Ben” as he finishes the concentration drill it is so clear what great friends these people are and that were it not for that friendship and trust between them this last glimpse of Hogan and his “swing eternal” would never have existed. It also shows us a part of Hogan and his generous nature that we otherwise would never have seen. Enjoy and understand what a kind and generous man Mr. Hogan was.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Kel Nagle - 1960 Giant Killer
You see, Arnold Palmer won 8 tournaments in 1960 two of which were The Masters and the US Open. He also won the World Cup (then known as the Canada Cup) while paired with Sam Snead. Palmer, however, lost the British Open to Kel Nagle. Nagle, who was 39 years old at the time had played in only two previous Opens (one in 1950 and the other in 55) so most thought that the 54-hole leader would likely fade during the final round. But, Nagle did not fade and fired a solid 71 which deprived Arnold Palmer, who finished second, of his 3rd major of the year which would have matched the highwater mark set by Hogan in 1953. All the more remarkable was that Nagle's 10 foot putt to save par on 17 was holed after he heard the sonic boom erupt from the 18th as Palmer holed his putt for birdie on the final hole. Nagle holed his ten footer to hold his 1-shot lead and then whipped his second shot on 18 at St. Andrews's to within 4 feet assuring him an easy two putt and an incredible victory. Nagle beat Palmer at the height of his popularity and power and quite likely the pinnacle of his career. Palmer won the next two Opens in succession.
It is no secret that I am a huge Ben Hogan fan, but in fact the golfer who I admire most is Peter Thomson. It was Thomson who called fellow Australian Nagle "Mr. Accuracy, the Ben Hogan of Australia" and there is no reason in the world not to accept Thomson's assessment of Nagle.
Kel Nagle's game was built on accuracy and precision and deadly putting. He won 61 times in Australasia, won the Canadian Open, the British Open and 15 other tournaments of note. Long overdue, Nagle was finally inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2007.
You can visit his profile here: http://www.wgv.com/hof/member.php?member=1137