On page fifty-two of Mark Frost’s The Match, he describes Ben Hogan’s fastidious manner in thirteen simple, beautifully crafted words; “He tied his black tasseled Brogan’s* as meticulously as a man defuses a bomb”.
Frost’s imagery conjures up thoughts of a dated locker room with a spike marked plank floor and a two foot wide worn wooden bench between rows of dark cherry lockers. Ben Hogan, with a perfectly pressed golf shirt and slacks along with his iconic white newsboy hat, ties his shoes, stands and takes one final glance in the mirror before heading to battle.
- Ben Hogan’s Golf shoes were custom made in New York and London. His shoes had a specific, unique feature; two additional spikes (total of fourteen) for better connectivity to the ground.
- Ben Hogan won The Masters, U.S. Open and the British Open in the same year (1953), unable to complete the Grand Slam as the PGA was played on the same date as the British Open. In 1954, the date of the PGA tournament was changed.
*Brogan (non-golf) shoes are defined as a course, stout leather shoe that reaches the ankle. Brogan shoes are traced back Scotland and Ireland in the 16th century. Brogan shoes were worn in the English Civil War, the Revolutionary War, and the American Civil War. During WWI, hobnailed Brogan shoes were worn by the troops in the trenches that incorporated spikes (similar to golf spikes) on the bottom of the soles.
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