This Week in Hogan History: In 1946 Ben won the Goodall Round Robin at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck New York, earning $2,150.00. In the 15 player field, everybody played everybody else during the 126 holes of play over three days and at the end of the tournament the person who had the most “plus” or “winning” holes took the trophy. Ben won the tournament with winning 51 holes, compared to the second place finisher, Lloyd Mangrum who had 26 holes and third place, Byron Nelson with 22 holes – an unprecedented margin. In 1947 Ben finished in 8th place at the Goodall Invitational at Charles River Country Club in Newton Centre, Massachusetts, earning $500.00. The winning score was held by Bobby Locke with 37 winning holes. Ben finished with eight winning holes. In 1948 Ben finished T-2 with Stewart “Skip” Alexander earning $1,700 at the Colonial Invitational at Colonial Country Club in Ft. Worth Texas six strokes behind the winner Clayton Haefner, who set a new tournament low scoring record of 272, beating the record Hogan set in 1946 and 1947 by seven strokes. Haefner held the record until 1978 when Lee Trevino shot 268. In 1950 Ben played in a celebrity tournament the weekend before the 1950 U.S. Open. Hogan was one of 11 men pros and 10 women pros to play in the National Celebrities Golf Tournament in Washington, D.C. on the Saturday and Sunday before heading to Philadelphia for the US Open at Merion. Participants in the benefit tournament included Bob Hope, Danny Kaye, Milton Berle, Frank Sinatra (only as a walking scorer), and Jim Thorpe. There were various senators, congressmen, and military leaders in the field, as well. On the first tee, Hogan received a citation from Attorney General Harold J. McGrath for having completed “the most courageous comeback in sports” during the past year when he returned to the PGA tour after missing 11 months due to injuries suffered in a car-bus crash. In 1956 Ben finishes T-16th along with Billy Casper Jr. and Dave Douglas earning $867.00 at the Texas International Open at the Preston Hollow Country Club in Dallas, TX, nine strokes behind the winner Peter Thomson who won in a playoff against Gene Littler on the second extra hole. Sam Snead finished in 15th place, eight strokes back. In 1957 Ben finished T-3rd along with Tommy Bolt earning $1,375.00 at the Palm Beach Round Robin at the Wykagyl Country Club in New Rochelle NY shooting a plus 14. Sam Snead won the tournament shooting a blistering plus 41. Sam Snead won $3,000.00. Open the following link for a short video of the event: criticalpast/video/65675071464_Goodall-Palm-Beach-Round-Robin_Wykagyl-Country-Club_Sam-Snead_Ben-Hogan_Doug-Ford
Posted on: Mon, 02 Jun 2014 14:30:45 +0000
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