The Early Life of Ben Hogan
Ben Hogan was born in August 1912, coincidentally within six months
of two other acknowledged golfers of the 20th century: Byron Nelson
and Sam Snead. Hogan was the youngest of
three children and lived in Stephensville, Texas, until he was nine and the
family moved to Fort Worth. His father was a blacksmith and his mother a
seamstress. Hogan started selling newspapers as a nine-year-old, until a friend
introduced him to caddying at age 11.
Future tour rival Byron Nelson was also working as a caddy
at the Glen Garden Country Club, a nine-hole-course about seven miles south of
his home. In December 1927, when Nelson and Hogan were 15 years old, they
played in a Christmas caddy tournament, a nine-hole event. Nelson tied the match up by sinking a
long putt on the last hole, and the match went on to another nine holes. Nelson managed
to make another substantial putt on the final green to win by a stroke.
In January 1930, during his final semester at Central High
School, Hogan dropped out and became a professional player at the Texas Open in
San Antonio. Hogan struggled financially, and even though he had finished 13th on the money list that year he had to take an assistant pro’s job in 1938. He worked at
Century Country Club in Purchase, New York as the assistant and later as the
head pro. In 1941, he took the head pro job in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Hogan had many difficult years early in his pro career, and
went broke multiple times. Despite struggling with a bad hook, he was eventually able
to succeed. He ended up winning not only once, but three consecutive tournaments in
1940, and was then on his way to become the best golfer of this era. He is still considered one of the greatest golfers of all times.
More about Hogan’s car accident and the “Hogan Slam”
tomorrow.
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