I didn’t grow up watching Bob Hope — I wish I did, but that era was a bit before my time. I knew the man through the game and through his tournament. Through Bob’s influence, his Hollywood connections, and his sincere love for the sport, he was able to connect audiences to the game because he made it relatable and more entertaining.
I view the Bob Hope Classic like I do IBM. Back then, an entire golf tournament hosted, played, and produced by a celebrity was new. Parallels lie within IBM; a company that changed the way businesses do business. Both have been through their growth stages and now live in their more established, mature years. Companies like Google and players like Tiger have come on the scene and progressed both fields. Bob Hope was a lodestar of his time that took his extraordinary amount of popularity and created things bigger than himself that still live on.
Continue reading “The Game, The Tournament, The Man, — Bob Hope”
The Comeback of Ben Hogan at Merion Golf Club
One of golf’s greatest feats is the comeback of Ben Hogan. After being struck by a Greyhound bus, doctors predicted Hogan would never walk again. His legs were crushed at impact and a main reason he survived was his selfless act to protect his wife by throwing himself on her lap right before impact.
Hogan was always someone who beat the odds: the odds of him making it to the Tour, of overcoming his father’s suicide, and battling back from his car crash.
That summer Monday in 1950 is stated best by the NY Times: Yesterday his challenge to the disbelievers was on the line.
What escapes the average golfer is that Hogan had a 1 stroke lead over Lloyd Mangrum and a three stroke lead over Tom Fazio; however on the sixteenth hole, Mangrum incurred a two stroke penalty which gave Hogan a three stroke lead on both competitors with two holes to play. Hogan dropped a two tier putt for a birdie two on the long par-3 seventeenth.
The New York Times article ends the story by referring to the nickname Ben had growing up:
Then the bug alighted on Mangrum’s ball at the sixteenth, and the penalty for handling the ball sealed the victory for Little Ben.
Below is a great interview with Hogan discussing not only his comeback, but also his mental approach. A great gem:
A True Golfer: Sean Connery
One of cinema’s best golf scenes undoubtedly includes Sean Connery in Goldfinger. I surmise the success of the scene came from the authenticity behind it. In his memoirs, Sean Connery talks about how his love for the game developed while preparing for one of Bond’s greatest adventures:
I never had a hankering to play golf, despite growing up in Scotland just down the road from Bruntsfield Links, which is one of the oldest golf courses in the world. It wasn’t until I was taught enough golf to look as though I could outwit the accomplished golfer Gert Frobe in Goldfinger that I got the bug. I began to take lessons on a course near Pinewood film studios and was immediately hooked on the game. Soon it would nearly take over my life.
I began to see golf as a metaphor for living, for in golf you are basically on your own, competing against yourself and always trying to do better. If you cheat, you will be the loser, because you are cheating yourself. When Ian Fleming portrayed Auric Goldfinger as a smooth cheater, James Bond had no regrets when he switched his golf balls, since to be cheated is the just reward of the cheater. Continue reading “A True Golfer: Sean Connery”
The One Blog Post Tim Finchem Should Read In 2011
We’re happy to announce a new guest blogger here for the Scratch pad. atruegolfer.com is the golf blog of Jon Birdsong, where he writes about the traditions and culture of golf. We’re excited to add Jon’s perspective to our blog by sharing some of his best posts with you. Great to have you on board, Jon!
Memberships are down, fewer patrons are attending tournaments, the economy is still recovering and the Tour’s main attraction is searching for his game. If I could put one blog post in front of Tim Finchem, it would be this one.
My message would be simple: golf tournaments should adapt to these times. Not golf, not the players, but tournaments – the entire experience. The on-course experience carries over directly to the TV viewer. When the fans are into every shot, the viewers are in it as well.
These aren’t the boom years of the Tiger Slam. The PGA Tour now has an opportunity to let fans feel much more engaged with golf’s best.
Opportunity
Every time I’m at a tournament, I always hear a fan exclaim how excited they get when players or their favorite player walk by in between holes. This is valuable for the Tour to know. Let the patrons get closer — closer to everything: the players, the green, maybe not the fairway.
Here is a great example of a classic golf gallery:
I love this photo. It shows appreciative fans who want to see one of the greatest work his craft. This is how golf should be spectated…even today. Continue reading “The One Blog Post Tim Finchem Should Read In 2011”